Bert Mosselmans – författare

The impressive young scholar Bert Mosselmans, analyzing the theory and policy of Jevons, a major figure in the field of the history of economics, has put together a volume with broad international appeal, particularly in Europe, North America and Japan, that offers a synthetic approach to Jevons’ economic theory, applied economics and economic policy.

Adopting a relativist approach to his subject, Mosselmans focuses on all aspects of Jevons’ theory, tying the different strands together where appropriate and discriminating where necessary. Examining the relation between theory and practise he situates Jevons within the history of economic thought and in relation to his logic, ethics, religion and aesthetics.

Ideal for scholars working in the fields of philosophy and history as well as economics, this ambitious and insightful work offers a comprehensive analysis of one of the founding fathers of modern economic thought, whose work marked a new chapter in its history, bridging the gap between classical and neo-classical economics.

The impressive young scholar Bert Mosselmans, analyzing the theory and policy of Jevons, a major figure in the field of the history of economics, has put together a volume with broad international appeal, particularly in Europe, North America and Japan, that offers a synthetic approach to Jevons’ economic theory, applied economics and economic policy.

Adopting a relativist approach to his subject, Mosselmans focuses on all aspects of Jevons’ theory, tying the different strands together where appropriate and discriminating where necessary. Examining the relation between theory and practise he situates Jevons within the history of economic thought and in relation to his logic, ethics, religion and aesthetics.

Ideal for scholars working in the fields of philosophy and history as well as economics, this ambitious and insightful work offers a comprehensive analysis of one of the founding fathers of modern economic thought, whose work marked a new chapter in its history, bridging the gap between classical and neo-classical economics.

The notion of marginalism is central to modern economic theory. Its emergence, in the 1870s, underpinned the change from classical economics to modern (micro)economics, described by Schumpeter as a “revolution”. This book explores the origins of the concept, its development and role in modern economics and shows why the marginalist approach is much more than a set of mathematical rules.

The book examines how marginalism and its development of calculus came about in a variety of different arenas, including as a reaction to Ricardo’s dominant theory of rents, in von Thunen’s location model, in the writings of German and French authors, both within the mainstream and outside it, before going on to look in detail at the work of Jevons, Walras and Menger, the economists most closely associated with the marginal revolution.

By exploring the origins and development of the marginalist approach within the history of economic thought, rather than seeking to explain it in forbidding formal terms, the book is better able to show students the wider importance of the marginalist approach in economic theory and its far-reaching societal implications in terms of the distribution of wages and capital. For anyone who has struggled with the technicalities of microeconomic theory, this approach will be warmly welcomed.