medium of leading countries
changes very slightly in amount, and the fluctuations in its amounts
during periods of so-called "favorable balance of trade" and of
"unfavorable balance of trade" are only the smallest fraction of the
value of goods passing through the ports of the country.

It is therefore absurd to imagine, as is sometimes done, that a
country could, by continually importing goods, be drained of all its
money, or that by any possible set of devices it could forever have an
excess of exports to be paid for by a continual inflow of gold.
Long before either of such movements could go far, the automatic
readjustment of prices would inevitably check it, and secure and
retain for each country its due portion of the money.

[Footnote 1: See Vol. I, ch. 17, sec. 10.]

[Footnote 2: See Vol. I, ch. 5, secs. 1 and 7.]

[Footnote 3: See Vol. I, ch. 6, sec. 11, on the origin of markets.]

[Footnote 4: See Vol. I, chs. 36 and 37.]

[Footnote 5: Recall ch. 4, in general, on the nature of monetary
demand.]

[Footnote 6: See Vol. 1 for numerous statements of the effects of
varying quantities of agents upon the economy of utilization; e.g.,
pp. 138, 163, 164, 213, 228, and chs. 34 and 35 entire.]

[Footnote 7: This theory has usually been presented under the name
of "the doctrine of comparative costs." The word "costs" is very
misleading in this connection because it is now always applied to
enterpriser's outlay. It seems best, therefore, to replace it in this
phrase by the word "advantages." Of course, it _never_ can be true
that an article can be "profitably" imported when its monetary costs
(all things considered) are higher in the exporting than in the
importing country. Indeed, the importation of any article is proof
conclusive that the importer thinks that the monetary costs of
an article would be higher in the importing than in the exporting
country. See further, ch. 15, secs. 11 and 13 (note).]

[Footnote 8: See ch. 7, sec. 7.]

[Footnote 9: This varies also with conditions; after the outbreak of
the war in 1914 it was for a time as high as $.05 because of high war
rates of insurance.]

[Footnote 10: The connection between a high rate of interest and
falling price is a dynamic phenomenon of a very temporary nature.
In long-time static conditions the general level of prices and the
prevailing rate of interest are dependent on entirely different sets
of forces. See on the theory of interest, Vol. I, p.