Marginal Utility Theory
In the third essay Dmitriev provided a detailed account of the genesis of marginal utility theory. This essay is mainly of interest from the perspective of the history of economic thought, because Dmitriev disputed the occurrence of a major break in the development of economic theory in terms of a “marginal revolution” in the 1870s by arguing that important contributions to marginal utility theory had been made already much earlier by economists such as Gossen, Senior, Rossi, Dupuit, and Molinari, and that, indeed, “we find all the information needed for the construction of a finished theory of marginal utility in the work of such an ‘old’ economist as Galiani” (Dmitriev 1974: 182, original emphases).
He also maintained that “the Austrian School as such (Menger, Bohm- Bawerk, von Wieser, and others) added very little (unless much significance is given to the introduction of new terms) to what had been done before them for the solution of the problem” (ibid.: 181, original emphases). Important contributions had only been made by economists who used the mathematical method, including “Walras (who may justifiably be regarded as the creator of marginal utility theory), Launhardt, Auspitz and Lieben and Jevons” (ibid.: 182). Dmitriev neatly summarized these contributions, but he showed no awareness that utility need not be cardinally measurable and did not himself contribute to the further development of marginal utility theory.Christian Gehrke
See also:
Ladislaus von Bortkiewicz (I); British classical political economy (II); Neo-Ricardian economics (II); David Ricardo (I); Russian School of mathematical economics (II); Piero Sraffa (I).