QUOTE : If the exchange act may thus be regarded as a creation of society, it is<br />no less true to say that both society and the individual become aware of<br />this only after exchanges have been completed. The work of an individual<br />is, first and foremost, his own individual endeavour, motivated by his<br />own self-interest. It is his personal labour, not the labour of society.<br />But whether or not it conforms with the requirements of the total<br />circulation of goods, of which his labour is necessarily a component<br />part, can be determined only when all the component elements have been<br />compared and the aggregate requirements of that circulation have been<br />completely satisfied.