In the Aristotelian system economics is a subdivision of politics; economics, like politics, is the study of social activity. Economics came to occupy a key position in the social sciences, its task being to discover what was ‘socially useful.’ From the beginning, the concept of the law of nature came to mean more specifically scientific, empirical law – this was the beginning of the conflict between ‘value’ and ‘law’ in economics. Myrdal looks at this conflict. Beginning with Ricardo, the author traces the classical theory of value, its history, development and implications.
