Steuart, Hume, Montesquieu

“‘Sir James Steuart’ begins his investigation of specie and money with a detailed criticism of Hume and Montesquieu. He is indeed the first to ask whether the amount of money in circulation is determined by the prices of commodities, or the prices of commodities determined by the amount of money in circulation. Although his exposition is tarnished by his fantastic notion of the measure of value, by his inconsistent treatment of exchange-value in general and by arguments reminiscent of the Mercantile System, he discovers the essential aspect of money and the general laws of circulation of money, because he does not mechanically place commodities on one side and money on the other, but really deduces its various functions from different moments in commodity exchange.” [Karl Marx, A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, 1859]