# Subjective Value Measure Only the subjective theory of value remains consistent as to source and measure. This theory establishes that always and everywhere individuals provide the source and the measure of value. Individuals provide the source because the judgment as to value comes from nowhere else. Individuals provide the measure because only an individual can establish the relative value of one good over the other. And no one, not even the individual making the value judgment, can quantify that relative value. Keep this important point in mind. The subjective theory of value proves difficult for many people to either comprehend or internalize. Some people reject the theory entirely because they have blindly accepted other theories of value. Many others seem to know and comprehend the subjective theory of value but they fail to understand and internalize it. I frequently read articles by people who can give a clear and concise definition of the subjective theory of value, but in the next sentence, they make a statement that attributes value to a source outside the individual. One must remember that **always and everywhere** value the individual provides the source of value and measures it by his relative preferences. In order to compare and contrast socialism, free-market capitalism, and whatever mixed system operating in the United States, I must use the only consistent value theory — the subjective theory of value. I cannot deny the importance of labor and land in the creation of marketable goods and services. But, it makes no sense to use labor, which varies in its consistency, and land of variable quality as the sources of value in economic transactions. # References / Links [[value scales]]