A student has inquired whether the letter K was first used to represent
Capital in the production function because a) C was already used for
consumption; or b) in German, capital starts with a K (as in *Das
Kapital*).
I know that the Cobb-Douglas Production function was first introduced using
C for capital and L for labor. So the student's question got me wondering
when the tradition of using K began.
Ross B. Emmett