Carl Menger

Carl Menger

Carl Menger (1840–1921) was the founder of the Austrian School. He is most famous for the theory of marginal utility, but made many more important contributions, including to the theory of prices and was instrumental in the so-called Methodenstreit, a dispute about the proper methods of the science of economics.

In his book The Origins of Money, Menger explains that it is not government edicts that create money but instead the marketplace. Individuals decide what the most marketable good is for use as a medium of exchange. "Man himself is the beginning and the end of every economy," and so it is with deciding what is to be traded as money. Menger developed a complete theory of social institutions arising from interactions among humans, each with his own subjective knowledge and experiences. It is the spontaneous evolution of these human actions that create institutions whereby individuals discover certain patterns of behavior that aid each person in attaining his goals more efficiently. Nothing is more central to this evolution than the development of money, making the division of labor possible and satisfaction of wants attainable.

See also

Bibliography

• Henderson, David R., ed (2007). "Carl Menger (1840-1921)". The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. Indianapolis, Indiana: Liberty Fund. pp. 565-566. ISBN 978-0-86597-665-8. OCLC 123350134. http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Menger.html. 
• Latzer, Michael; Schmitz, Stefan W., eds (2002). Carl Menger and the Evolution of Payments Systems: From Barter to Electronic Money. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. ISBN 978-1-84064-918-5. OCLC 48987833. 
• Menger, Carl (2007). Principles of Economics. Auburn, Alabama: Ludwig von Mises Institute. ISBN 978-1-933550-12-1. OCLC 123178515. 
• Menger, Carl (2009). Investigations into the Method of the Social Sciences. Auburn, Alabama: Ludwig von Mises Institute. ISBN 978-1-61016-150-3. http://mises.org/document/4062/Investigations-into-the-Method-of-the-Social-Sciences. 
• Menger, Carl (2009). On the Origins of Money. Auburn, Alabama: Ludwig von Mises Institute. ISBN 978-1-933550-59-6. OCLC 664877242. http://mises.org/document/4984/On-the-Origins-of-Money. 
• Ream, Roger R. (1982). "Book Review: Principles of Economics by Carl Menger". The Freeman 32 (2): 127-128. http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/book-review-principles-of-economics-by-carl-menger. 
• Salerno, Joseph T. (1999). "Carl Menger: The Founding of the Austrian School". In Holcombe, Randall G.. 15 Great Austrian Economists. Auburn, Alabama: Ludwig von Mises Institute. pp. 71-100. ISBN 0-945466-04-8. OCLC 44942957. 
• Schumpeter, Joseph A. (1997). "Carl Menger (1840-1921)". Ten Great Economists: From Marx to Keynes. London: Routledge. pp. 80-90. ISBN 0-415-11078-5. OCLC 52743301. 

Links

• Author page and works at the Liberty Archive
• Carl Menger at Wikipedia
• Salerno, Joseph T.. "Biography of Carl Menger: The Founder of the Austrian School (1840-1921)". Ludwig von Mises Institute. http://mises.org/page/1459/Biography-of-Carl-Menger-The-Founder-of-the-Austrian-School-18401921. Retrieved 9 March 2013. 
• "Menger the Revolutionary" by Roger R. Ream, Tuesday, November 10, 2009
• "Menger Explains the Origins of Money" by Carl Menger and Doug French, Monday, January 04, 2010
• Online editions of Menger's books