Origins of Menger’s thought in French liberal economists

Abstract

Austrian school of economics (origins of the), Menger (Carl), nineteenth-century French Liberal economic thought, Say (Jean-Baptiste), B12, B13, B31,

From Karl Menger to Charles Menger? How Austrian economics (hardly) spread in France

“…Menger read French nineteenth-century economists who, after Jean-Baptiste Say, were in favor of free trade (Campagnolo, 2009). He did not approve of all of them.…”

“…He wrote that "free-competition realizes justice in wealth distribution, as well as the maximal possible welfare accessible through trade and production" (Rist, 1904, p. 645). In Rist's eyes, upholding marginalism and defending the proprietors were two very different things and he followed the tendencies of older French liberal economists (Bastiat, Leroy-Beaulieu, and others) while endorsing the views of Menger, who criticized those that he dubbed "mere advocates" (Campagnolo, 2009). In a free competition society, the prices that clear the market provide each and every one the maximum amount of satisfaction that can be obtained in the given circumstances: this is the "subjective utility" and Rist uses the term "ophelimity" once put forth in French by the marginalists to discard "utility," which was most often understood only in terms of its objective meaning.…”

Discussing Chevalier’s Data on the Efficiency of Tariffs for American and French Canals in the 1830s

“…As Drolet (2008) noted, "Chevalier moved from being one of the fiercest critics of France's political establishment to one of its most ardent defenders" (p. 1229). Campagnolo (2009) stated that during his life, Chevalier always believed that both productive entrepreneurship and state intervention were necessary for a competitive environment. Of course, this universality was not well received by the most orthodox thinkers, like Carl Grun (1845), who wrote the following about Michel Chevalier: M. Chevalier still refers with great sympathy to the industrialists .…”

“…Other remarkable influences were assumed by Carl Menger. According to Campagnolo (2009), Menger cited Chevalier 56 times in his leading Grundsätze .…”

“… 7. Campagnolo (2009) also mentioned other Chevalier books besides the masterpiece Cours d’Économie Politique (1842-1844), such as Letters on the Organization of Labor and Letters on Patents . It should be mentioned that Chevalier’s classes were suspended from April 7, 1848, until November 14, 1848, by the antiroyalist Minister M. Carnot (Jourdan, 1887).…”