Menger the Revolutionary The publication of Adam Smith's The
Wealth of Nations in 1776 is often considered the starting point
of the science of economics. However, it was Menger's Grundsitze
(1871), along with the works of Leon Walras and William Stanley
Jevons that began the modern period of economic thought.
Significantly, Menger's ideas provided the foundation for what
is today classified as the Austrian School of economics. This
important book of Menger's was not translated into English until
almost eighty years after it was written. [It is offered anew by
the Mises Institute. – Ed.] Menger is perhaps best known for his
development of marginal-utility theory, discovered almost
simultaneously by Jevons and Walras. However, to comprehend
fully the importance of Menger's achievement one must understand
the context into which it fits. It was Menger who elaborated the
logical foundations of marginal-utility theory and it was his
Principles specifically that served as the basic textbook for
the Austrian economi