Question

The law of Equi-Marginal Utility was propounded by

• A. Marshall
• B. Jevons
• C. Pigou
• D. Menger

Hint:

Associate Jevons, Menger, and Walras with the "Marginal Revolution" that shifted economics from a classical focus on supply and cost to a neoclassical focus on individual utility and demand. Marshall is best known for integrating these new ideas into a comprehensive framework.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
The Law of Equi-Marginal Utility describes how a consumer achieves maximum satisfaction by allocating their limited income among different goods. It states that a consumer will distribute their expenditure so that the marginal utility derived from the last unit of money spent on each good is equal.

Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
The development of marginal utility theory was a key event in the history of economic thought known as the "Marginal Revolution." \begin{itemize} \item William Stanley Jevons was one of the three main economists, along with Carl Menger and Léon Walras, who independently and almost simultaneously developed the theory of marginal utility in the 1870s. He was a foundational proponent (propounder) of using the marginal utility concept to explain consumer behavior.
\item While the idea was first articulated by H.H. Gossen (as Gossen's Second Law), it was Jevons who brought it to the forefront of economic debate in the English-speaking world.
\item Alfred Marshall later synthesized, refined, and popularized this law in his "Principles of Economics," giving it its modern name and formulation (\(\frac{MU_x}{P_x} = \frac{MU_y}{P_y} = \dots\)).
\end{itemize} Given the options, Jevons is the most appropriate choice as a primary originator and proponent of the underlying theory.

Step 3: Final Answer:
The law of Equi-Marginal Utility was propounded by Jevons.