Aequalitas valoris in Menger’s Theory of the Commodity Exchange

Abstract

Carl Menger – as earlier Etienne de Condillac, Le Trosne, Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John S. Mill, Jean-Baptiste Say, William S. Jevons – has associated the notion of value with the human need. Unlike his predecessors, Menger has not accepted the notion of commodity utility as a measure of its value. In that way, Menger has challenged a thesis deeply rooted in the history of economic thought that the notion of value denotes the commodity attribute that makes each good capable to meet human need. In Menger’s value theory, the notion of value belongs the category of human judgment on the importance of good for human life and well being, i.e. for his need satisfaction. It has been shown that Menger’s approach to the commodity value let us introduce the concept of aequalitas valoris to the theory of commodity exchange and neither “value in use” nor “value in exchange” can be treated as categories of commodity value theory.