The author presents properties of prices as a special socio-economic category. In an interesting way there are discus sed causes of relative independence of prices in relation to their value bas is and causes of prices: deviation from value on one hand, and of isolation of price movement from value movement. Dynamics of price movement, apart from commodity value movement, is affected by changes in distribution of newly produced values, changes in the money purchasing power and price scale, changes in the social significance of the commodity, differences in demand-supply ratio on the scale of commodity groups, differences in growth rate of labour productivity and wages. Economic fructification of effects of technical progress and reduction of outlays can be present and is already present in the course of the original distribution of the national income in the system of wages, finances with stable or even growing prices. The author points out new socio-economic contents of price categories in socialism as compared with capitalism, which encompass targets of price policy, way of their fixing, role in functioning of the economy. There are presented four functions of prices: 1) account-value function, 2) stimulating function, 3) redistribution function, 4) demand-supply balancing function. Furthermore there are discus sed principles of price formation such as: democratic centralism of price formation, uniform state price policy, observance of the state price discipline, reconciliation of price stability and elasticity, uniformity of prices for similar products.

Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 zostało dofinansowane ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę.

Za zgodą autora przygotował do druku i dostosował dla potrzeb czytelnika polskiego Lech Miastkowski, Uniwersytet Łódzki.