Talk:Article of commerce

Services as commodities

There appears to be a contrast of opinion between Marxists and others as to whether labor is a commodity: Friedrich Engels asserts that “[l]abor is a commodity, like any other,” whereas Carl Menger insists that the term encompasses only “movable” and “tangible” goods “[i]n ordinary usage.” The latter accords with John Locke's statement that commodities are “moveables, valuable by money, the common measure,” which Samuel Johnson uses as an example in defining commodities as “[w]ares; merchandise; goods for traffick.”

It is therefore evident that classical economists, as well as members of the Austrian school of economics, regarded commodities only as tangible movables intended for sale, rather than anything for sale generally. As such, I would recommend creating another article dedicated to this more narrow sense of the word, and perhaps entitling it “Commodity (classical economics).” OzzyMuffin238 (talk) 17:52, 22 August 2024 (UTC)

References

Move

@OzzyMuffin238 do you know of any examples where Marx or analysis of his works uses "article of commerce"? I looked at the copy available on marxists.org, and it mentions commodity 500 times and article of commerce once. Where did this term originate? ← Metallurgist (talk) 00:07, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

Hi again! So, because Marx wrote his works in German, the word he used was Ware, as in Warenfetischismus. Ordinarily, of course, Ware and Handelsware (also written in older sources respectively as Waare and Handelswaare) correspond to what we English speakers would call a commodity in common parlance. Compare, for example, Carl Menger's Principles of Economics (Mises Institute, 2007) (linked here), pp. 236–241, with the original German version, Grundsätze der Volkswirtschaftslehre (lit. 'Principles of the Theory of Political Economy') (1871), pp. 225–232.

However, starting around the last quarter of the twentieth century, commodity also started to develop a new sense in English in light of the kinds of goods sold on futures exchanges and their specific characteristics. In light of this ambiguity and the fact that both senses are in the field of economics, preventing simply using a parenthetical "(economics)" for the one and not the other, a synonym was the best alternative.

That's where article of commerce comes in: it is a synonym for commodity in the former sense, or perhaps even a definition, since a commodity in this sense is an article (an object, item, thing, vel sim.) of commerce (trade). Admittedly, this synonym is more common in the field of law, but it is a valid definition no less. The term is used not only in Marxism (despite the former article title and content), but in classical economics and really just economics generally. OzzyMuffin238 (talk) 01:48, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

@OzzyMuffin238 Did you come up with the synonym yourself or is it based on sources, is what Im asking. This page appears to be mostly in the Marxist sense of the term, altho I recognize what you are saying and efforts to improve it. As it is, the Marxist disambiguator made sense, but commodity (economics) might make sense also if it were expanded. None of the sources used the term you moved to, as far as I could tell, which is why I asked. This article is a mess all around honestly and I am tempted to AFD it. I wanted to try to verify the cites or at least reformat them to be more concise, but Marx has been republished so many times and this contains double citations, that it would be very difficult to fix, leading me to consider WP:TNT. Someone more versed in his works could fix it. ← Metallurgist (talk) 06:16, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

As for the claim from a secondary source that commodities (in this sense) are the same thing as articles of commerce, my sources are chiefly dictionaries. I'll provide more upon request, but here are some:

• Legal
  • Black's Law Dictionary
    • 2nd ed. (1910), p. 225 (pl.) ("[g]oods, wares, and merchandise of any kind; movables; articles of trade or commerce")
    • dx. 12th ed. (2024), p. 345 ("[a]n article of trade or commerce")
• General
  • Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1961), p. 458 ("an article of commerce")

For what it's worth, I also have a primary source that uses the two terms interchangeably: Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1, 26 (2005) ("The [Controlled Substances Act] is a statute that regulates the production, distribution, and consumption of commodities […] . Prohibiting the intrastate possession or manufacture of an article of commerce is a rational (and commonly utilized) means of regulating [interstate] commerce in that product."). However, Justice John Paul Stevens incorrectly used the term in reference to an article of non-commerce, but that's a whole rabbit hole.

Still, given the article's focus, you may well be right about making the title about Marxism again. However, I think it were better as "Commodities in Marxism" than as "Commodity (Marxism)", since the definition is still the same as an article of commerce—well, kind of (see below)—just, the focus is on Marxist perspectives. I suppose that I'll have to make a separate article for articles of commerce as such, then change the relevant inter-language links. This is especially true since, in legal usage (which see above) and in classical economics (contrary to the article), Austrian economics (which see § Services as commodities), etc., commodity typically refers only to personal property and not to labor or services. OzzyMuffin238 (talk) 13:47, 18 June 2026 (UTC)