Publication of the book by W. S. Jevons

Vladimir Avtonomov edited and published a translation of "The Theory of Political Economy" by one of the founders of marginalism.

In "The Theory of Political Economy" (1871), Willam Stanley Jevons (1835–1882) was the first to systematically apply the mathematical method in developing economic theory. The author’s new research canon in economic science can be called physiological-mathematical. It is based on the theory of value based on utility and scarcity. On this basis, the theory of exchange and the theory of supply of labor and capital were developed. This work, along with the works of K. Menger (1871) and L. Walras (1874), became one of the three sources of the “marginalist revolution” in economic science at the end of the 19th century, to which modern economic theories date back.

In the preface to the second edition, the author gives an overview of the contribution of his predecessors to the use of mathematical methods in economics and to the theory of utility, which can be called the first experience of the history of economic analysis.

As an appendix to this edition, the “Textbook of Political Economy” is published, in which the author presents his ideas in a popular form.

Translated from English by N. V. Avtonomova, edited by V. S. Avtonomov.

 

Information about the book on the publisher's website.