Basic Principles of Economic Value

Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk

Here Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk--Mises's teacher and a huge figure in the history of thought--explains and argues for the subjective theory of value, the theory of marginal utility, and their relationship to price.

This book was originally published in German in 1886 as an elaboration on Menger--driving home points concerning value as against every non-Austrian point of view.

He completely demolishes not only the labor theory but also the value theory that rests on claims of aggregate economic value or social worth. In so doing, he clarifies points that Menger himself hadn't entirely spelled out. He also outlines for the first time in this article the modern marginal productivity theory of factor pricing.

The author covers the nature and origin of value, the measurement of value, the value of complementary goods, the scientific significance of subjective value, and the theory of objective exchange value.

Meet the Author
Eugen Böhm-Bawerk
Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk

Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk was a leading member of the Austrian School of economics. His major contributions were in the areas of capital and interest and helped pave the way for modern interest theory. His criticisms of Marx's economics and exploitation theory have not been refuted to this day.

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