Marx and Menger on value: As many similarities as differences

This paper argues that, as far as theories of value and money are concerned, Marx and Menger have more in common than has been traditionally maintained. Each of them had his own abstract concept of value, distinct from labour or utility and prior to prices. Moreover, both proposed theories of value form and provided explanations of the origin of money. These concepts and theories can hardly be found in the works of Smith and Ricardo, nor in those of Jevons and Walras, because they were primarily concerned with the determination of exchange ratios. Furthermore, Marx and Menger become more sharply divided owing to their similarities. They shared many questions to which they offered opposite answers.