ECONOMIST PAPERS

Series Three: Papers of Carl Menger, 1840-1921, from the William R. Perkins Library, Duke University

Part 1: Notebooks, Notes on Economic Principals and Notes on Money

Part 2: Lectures, Notes on Methodology, Correspondence, Biographical Materials and Micellanea and Printed Matter

Biographical Note

Carl Menger was born in Neu-Sandec, Galicia (South Poland), a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, on 28 February 1840. He was one of 3 sons of a well to do lawyer. His brother Anton became a legal philosopher and was one of the early historians of socialism. His other brother Max became a celebrated parliamentarian and writer on social problems.

Carl studied law in Vienna and Prague and then enjoyed a lengthy spell working for the Lemberger Zeitung and later the Wiener Zeitung in a variety of editorial and reporting posts. He earned a doctorate in jurisprudence from the University of Krakow in 1867. He took a job in the press section of the Prime Minister's office in Vienna and concurrently studied economics. The publication of his Grundsätze (Principles of Economics) in 1871 caused a revolution in economic theory and made his reputation, with the result that he was appointed professor extraordinarius at the University of Vienna in 1872. For five years he gave lectures on economic issues at the university whilst continuing to contribute articles to the Wiener Zeitung.

Late in 1876 Menger was appointed tutor in Political Economy and Statistics to Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria. This not only brought Menger in touch with real political power and influence but gave him an opportunity to travel widely throughout Europe as the prince's travelling companion. This formal association ended in 1879 after their return from a tour to Britain, but Menger continued to benefit from the connection.

In 1879 Menger was granted a full professorship at the University of Vienna and the fruits of his new research work were seen in his Untersuchungen über die Methode der Socialwissenschaften, und der Politischen Œkonomie insbesondere (Investigations into the Method of the Social Sciences with Special Reference to Economics), published in 1883. This precipitated the Methodenstreit with the German Historical School and his Irrthümer des Historismus in der Deutschen Nationalökonomie (1884) was Menger's reply to criticism by Gustav Schmoller. The Austrian School of Economics continued to develop due to the enthusiastic support of Menger's disciples Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (1851-1914) and Friedrich von Wieser (1851-1926). In 1892 Menger was appointed to the Austrian state commission on currency reform and the evaluation of the bullion standard and much of his work on monetary economics dates from this period. This was to prove a great influence on Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973).

In 1903 Menger took early retirement to concentrate on a great treatise, synthesising his earlier works, which he never completed. He died in Vienna in 1921.

Karl Menger (b1902), his son, an accomplished mathematician and a founder member of the Wiener Kreis (Vienna Circle) oversaw the publication of the second edition of the Grundsätze in 1923. Friedrich von Hayek (b1899) helped to organise Menger's papers whilst preparing the 4 volume edition of The Collected Works of Carl Menger for LSE in 1934, as did Albert Zlabinger who consulted the papers concerning Money in the 1970's. Menger's 19,000 volume library was purchased by Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo in 1922 (available on microfilm from Maruzen Co Ltd). His manuscripts were donated to Duke University by Eve L Menger, his grand-daughter, in 1987.

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