ABSTRACT
Carl Menger was the first to systematically develop a new approach to value and price theory and successfully challenge the Ricardian paradigm. Menger and the Austrians replaced the objective mechanistic determinism of Ricardian economics with a subjective reality of human action and valuations. The utility/marginalist/subjectivist revolution in Austria spawned numerous articles in the economics journals. Like Adam Smith, Menger's grand interest was economic growth, "The causes of progress in human welfare". The ultimate purpose of production, noted Menger, was to satisfy human needs through the creation of better and cheaper goods and services. Menger's discovery was labeled the "law of imputation”. After promulgating the law of imputation, Menger went on to discover the marginality principle. Menger's subjective utility theory and marginal analysis were popularized primarily through his two disciples, Eugen Bohm-Bawerk and Friedrich Wieser. Bohm-Bawerk was able to advance the Austrian theory in new directions, especially in the area of economic growth and capital theory.
