The Distribution of Wealth: A Theory of Wages, Interest and
Profits The Place of Distribution within the Traditional
Divisions of Economics We have undertaken to solve a test
problem of distribution—to ascertain whether the division of the
social income into wages, interest and profits is, in principle,
honest. We have seen that this compels us to enter the realm of
production, in order to find whether these incomes are earned.
Is each of them specifically created by the agent that gets it?
If it is, the entire science of distribution is nothing more
than a science of the process of specific production. In any
case, the relation of the wealth-creating process to the wealth-
dividing process needs a most searching examination. The terms,
Production, Distribution, Exchange and Consumption, have been
used to designate four divisions of economic science. These,
however, are not distinct divisions; for one of them includes
two of the others. The production of wealth, as it is carried on
by an organized society, is