3.1 — The Marginalist Revolution, Jevons & Menger — Class Content
Overview
Today we begin the marginalist revolution that ushered in “neoclassical economics” focused on the idea of marginal utility as the source of prices & value. We will give an overview of the “revolution” and focus on two of the three thinkers: Jevons in Britain and Menger in Austria. We will return to Walras at the end of this unit to focus on his approach to general equilibrium.
Readings
Required Readings
- William Stanley Jevons, Carl Menger & their wrirings in Reader
- Ch.8 “Jevons, Menger, and the Foundations of Marginal Analysis” in Landreth & Colander
- Ch.6 in Blaug
Recommended Readings:
The following Wikipedia entries can also provide more background:
Questions to Help Your Reading
Slides
Below, you can find the slides in two formats. Clicking the image will bring you to the html version of the slides in a new tab. The lower button will allow you to download a PDF version of the slides.
You can type h to see a special list of viewing options, and type o for an outline view of all the slides.
I suggest printing the slides beforehand and using them to take additional notes in class (not everything is in the slides)!
Assignments
Participation/Discussion Board Posts Due 8 PM Fri Oct 21
This week’s graded discussion is worth 5 points, and can be a combination of discussion in class, and/or posts on the Blackboard Discussion Board by 8 PM this Friday October 21.
Tournament Votes
The second round of the Pre-Classical division of the “Most Interesting Economist in History” tournament is live. Please post your votes in the discussion board.