1902.1 KEASBEY — A CLASSIFICATION OF ECONOMIES. 149 



Having applied our canon of distinction over the whole range of 

 economic development, there appear to be three fundamental types 

 of economies, the automatic, the instinctive and the rational, char- 

 acteristic respectively of plant, animal and human life. In the 

 automatic economy the stimulus exciting utilization is spontaneous, 

 and the means employed in the process consist of natural organs 

 that act without the intervention of the will. In the instinctive 

 economy the impulse leading to utilization is voluntary, and the 

 means employed in the process consist for the most part of natural 

 organs that act in obedience to the will. In the rational economy 

 the motive making for utilization is purposive, and the means em- 

 ployed in the process consist for the most part of artificial imple- 

 ments manufactured for the purpose. 



The foregoing classification gives a general idea of the order of 

 economic development, and enables us to distinguish superficially 

 between the three fundamental types of economies. The distinc- 

 tion between the automatic and the instinctive systems, it will be 

 noticed, is not nearly so marked as that between these simpler sys- 

 tems, on the one hand, and the highly complex human economy on 

 the other. Indeed, if Professor Loeb is right in regarding instinc- 

 tive action as essentially the same as reflex action, the separation of 

 the instinctive economy from the automatic economy must betaken 

 to express simply a superficial distinction, or at most to mark a 

 minor difference of degree. Rational activities are, however, radi- 

 cally different from instinctive acts, though here too, no doubt, the 

 difference is ultimately one of degree. Wherein these latter differ- 

 ences consist is the task of the psychologist to show. It is enough 

 for the economist to take cognizance of the facts and establish his dis- 

 tinctions accordingly. On the face of it, the fact that the human econ- 

 omy constitutes a rational system evidently places it upon a higher 

 plane than the economies characteristic of the lower orders of life. 

 Then, again, regarded from the point of view of economic develop- 

 ment, a further distinction is discernible in the process of utilization 

 characteristic of the rational system. In the rational economy utiliza- 

 tion appears to make for progress ; whereas under the automatic 

 and instinctive systems utilization seems to be simply conservative. 



It is evident enough, as has already been indicated, that with the 

 development of plant and animal life the process of utilization 

 becomes more and more complicated, but in all these cases increased 

 complexity appears to be rather the effect of variation and selection 



