Principles of Economics (Large Print Edition) Paperback – Large Print, January 1, 2007

One hundred and fifty years after it was written, this book still excels at explaining economic value and price formation. The author takes extraordinary care in explaining why some things have economic value and others do not, and how prices emerge.

This classic work of Carl Menger is in reality, not about principles of Economics, but about the mechanics of buying and selling. Menger claims to have imvented or discovered the "Science of Economics", when economics is, in fact, a service of one human being to another, not governed by the law of supply and demand, but by the laws of ethics. His idea of "economics", subjective value in particular, could apply as well to the slave trade, child labor, drug trafficking and to the business practices that creates sweatshops, and all the social evils of the Industrial Revolution. His view of "economics" is straight out of the novels of Charles Dickens.He reduces the "science' of Economics to human need and the satisfaction of human need, and what he calls :"the causal connections" between need and the satisfying of need - and those who are in command of the satisfaction of needs. In more understandable terms, he is talking about the "haves" and the "have nots". But he makes no distinction between the business practices of the factories of the Industrial Revolution and the business practices of General Electric and General Motors.He has his own particular notion of the "good" - "good", not in the moral sense, but in the sense of what answers to a need. What his economics boils down to is one set of automatons fulfilling the needs of another set of automatons, and the construction of a giant impersonal, amoral, automatic framework of "causal connections". all wrapped up in the German word "Grundsatz", for which there is no adequate English translation.The book takes off in theory after theory after theory, not by reference to any empirical evidence, but by what might be called the "radical subjectivism" of Carl Menger, who lntroduces "subjective factors" all over the place, never identifying what they are. Economics, according to Menger, is not a human science, in the sense of a science of human relationships, but a science of the "Market", with a capital M.His theory of money is not money as fulfilling human needs, but money as the "most economic form of storing Exchangeable wealth". Money, it seems, is a commodity that exists for the Market, since that is where money is exchanged. In fact, the whole book is bound up in the Market, as if man existed for the Market and that man is in the long run merely an economic creature.His theory of money is simply a history of coinage, and not a theory of money as a medium of exchange or as having capital value. The reduction of man to the Market and to the mechanics of the Market is the most obvious empirical flaw of the whole book, since it is presumed that "progress in human welfare" is dependent upon the "causal connection" between human needs and the satisfying of human needs, as if human needs were limited to economic needs.He gives no distinction between a just economy and an unjust one, and does not avert to the fact that his principles of economics could apply to the factories of the Industrial Revolution, and to the origin of the slave trade. What is lacking throughout the whole book are the ethical standards and the moral principles that enter into any system of buying and selling.Economics is primarily a moral question: how human beings relate to each other as buyer and seller, employer and employee, factory owner and factory worker, the entrepreneur and the Market, and the moral principles implicit in the interaction of human beings with each other. That moral principle is "Thou shalt not steal" and the book is totally silent on the many ways that human beings can steal from each other. It presumes that "need" is the only fact in economic transactions, but the history of economics shows that more often it is "greed" that is the "grundsatz" of the transaction. The history of Economics, which Carl Menger touches upon not at all, demonstrates that economics is usually determined by the "haves", with no consideration for the needs of the "have nots".That was true of the "economics" out of which Carl Menger emerged: the economics of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was completely in the hands of the Austro-Hungarian aristocracy. Menger's book is a manual of how to create a new moneyed-aristocracy, free from any government control. That, in fact, was the first treatise that Carl Menger put his hand to- his critique of Austro-Hungarian economics by the pen of his royal pupil, Prince Rupert, the heir to the throne.Wittingly or unwittingly, Carl Menger has created a new economic aristocracy, a "liberal" aristocracy, based on the political theory of "Liberalism". You can see the seeds of his economics in his treatise published under the name of his royal pupil: "The Austrian Nobility and Its Constitutional Mission; An Admonitory Appeal to the Aristrocratic Youth. By an Austrian". It was published, not in Austria, but in Munich. It contains the seed of Menger's Declaration of Independence for an economics free of all government control.His economics makes sense in governments like that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where a king or emperor rules, and the economics of the country serves chiefly the interests of the crown and the nobility. But in a society and government like that of the United States and of the other free countries of the world, the entrepreneur is bound by just laws, just laws made by the people, for the people. An economic aristrocracy can be as tyrannical and self-serving as any royal aristocracy and that is seen in the history of economics itself, in the wake of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the factory system.In the Unted States, Supreme Court cases like Muller v. Oregon, United States v. Darby Lumber Company and Brown v. Board of Education broke tde back of an economic system similar to that held by Carl Menger, which served only the economic interests of a few. Menger's "Principles of Economics" herald a return to an economics for the few. That is why it was dated when Carl Menger put pen to paper, and is simply the intellectual construct of a man who cannot see that history has left him behind and that his Principles of Economics are as dated as the Austro-Hungarian Empire he left behind.Father Clifford StevensArchdiocese of Omaha

Carl Menger is the founder of the Austrian School.More telling is how the reaction of the German Historical School resulted in hostility from the Austrians.Gustav Schmoller refused to even read and review one of his works.He claimed he sent it back to him before he could read it.Schmoller went further than that.People that agreed with Menger were refused the credentials to teach it in school.Probably a sore loser.That being said,it is worth noting that Carl Menger,for many years taught Economics.This is what he taught.This book is divided into eight sections:1)The General Theory of the Good2)Economy and Economic Goods3)The Theory of Value4)The Theory of Exchange Catalactics to von Mises.5)The Theory of Price6)Use Value and Exchange Value The average concrete need unit is the general expression for objective use value.7)The Theory of the Commodity8)The Theory of MoneyStarting with Menger and carried on with people like von Mises,the Austrians were searching for knowledge beyond economics.They knew economics would pertain to selfish interests.Thus Schmoller's reaction to the Austrians was really no surprise.By the time of Menger's death in 1921,the powers that be in those days were gone.Sadly,this is pretty much all we get from Menger.Sure,he testified in front of the Currency Commission;but he wanted to put more of his academic work in print.This would not be.Nowadays,we would get his lectures on computer or video.He was really that student friendly.

This reads much like a textbook and is difficult to read and sometimes not easy to understand. It is technical. It is highly recommended from major players in the field of Austrian economics. That being said, I doubt I will ever read it again. It may be better suited for professional economists. Menger lived from 1840 to 1921 and founded the Austrian school of economics. All economists have rejected his view that all things are subject to cause and effect, except the Austrian school. His students include Ludwig von Mises and F.A. Hayek. His discussion is in depth and he uses minute details. Bohm-Bawerk and Wieser were his first and most enthusiastic disciples. He had written disputes with other economists. I recommend this book for students of economics. In my case it wasn't helpful and wasn't what I thought it would be. On the other hand, Hayek's "The Road To Serfdom" was very beneficial.

Great read, well done.Never read economics, now i'm able to have a conversation on concepts regarding trade, exchange, value.

It should be required reading for every American; especially for the news media.

I enjoyed the book. Although it was a little hard to understand at first but very insightful into Austrian Economics. PS you can find a free pdf version online

My son loves this book

Everything is economics.Every action you take, every decision you make, is part of economics. You might not think that is the case, but Menger is here to remind you that.All decisions made in the world - small ones by individuals, to large ones by corporations and governments, are all bind by economics. As humans are not rational animals, all decisions made by us, i.e. human action, are to some degree subjective.This books will introduce you to concepts like the marginal utility of value and the subjective nature of value. It is not mathematically-based, so it is more accessible to non-economists.After reading this, you will have a whole new perspective on daily life, and every thing you do. You will also start to realize the flawed "economic" talk by politicians left and right.Highly recommend this book. This book changes lives, even after 149 years.

As the title says: Principles of economics back then. Which are perfectly working now. It is like a law of physics. Newton's law always works. Carl Menger's Economy law works as well.

A difficult read, education is difficult.

It's big enough to read right size of the word.

Es un buen libro pero el padre de la Escuela Austriaca de Economía (los terraplanistas de la economía) hace un análisis muy general de lo que es la economía política y de su época. Pero no deja de ser un autor obligado a leer.