1. The leasing of fields, meadows, and woods played a great part in the history of economic ideas.
The political economy of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries admitted, in fact, that the distribution of income was carried out between three social classes, the landowners, the capitalists, and the workers. In reality, the actual income are of two kinds: that of saving placements and that of labor. Nevertheless, classical political economy considers that the distribution of income constitutes the main part of what economic science must succeed in elucidating (Ricardo's preface to his Principles).
2. Many commercial enterprises sell and manage rentals.
The generic product that these enterprises market is the composite commodities that constitute the provision of the rental service.
3. The other rental enterprises are individuals, private associations and public entities.
A lessor who does not make his business the subject of a legally constituted business has nevertheless established a de facto business.
4. Renting and maintaining it is expensive.
All rentals must be managed and all management costs. Although rented ownership of land may only be subject to tax burdens for generations, most real estate requires periodic major maintenance. If necessary, the search for a new tenant also costs.
5. For the landlord, rent is a turnover and not an income.
The landlord only manages his business well by seeing in the rent he receives a product from which charges are to be deducted.
6. The profits of the lessor are saving placement income.
It is once all expenses have been deducted from income that, as in any enterprise's income statement, a margin appears, which is profit when it is positive. Only the distribution of the profit to the owner of the business, or to his co-owners, constitutes saving placement income.
7. Saving placement income from renting out contributes to the distribution of the overall income.
Further on, Chapter 8 theorizes the distribution of total income. Let us consider here only one of the most obvious aspects of this problem. If total saving placement income increases faster than total income for a long time, then but only then does the share of total labor income fall in total income. If total saving placement income increases at a slower rate than total income, then, but only then, does the share of total labor income increase in total income. Moreover, in the latter case, the rate of increase in total labor income is greater than the rate of increase in total income.