Ukrainian economic thought of the last third of the 19th – early 20th centuries in the context of the development of the european liberal tradition

Abstract

The article analyzes the features of the development of marginalism and the emergence of a modern methodology for the analysis of economic processes in Ukrainian economic thought, starting with the development of the Kyiv scientific school headed by M. Bunge and ending with the works of prominent Ukrainian scientists E. Slutsky and M. Tugan-Baranovsky. These problems, considering their relevance for the present, are the subjects of modern scholars’ researches, such as T. Hayday, I. Golovata, V. Kudlak, O. Kurbet, V. Nebrat, N. Suprun, Y. Ushchapovsky, V. Feshchenko and others. The purpose of the article is to highlight the scientific contribution of Ukrainian economists of the last third of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries to the development of marginalism and Western European liberalism, to reveal the emergence of a new methodology of economic analysis based on the combination of ideas of classical political economy and marginal analysis, the historical school’ principles with the European socio-reformism, and the use of functional analysis with economic and mathematical research tools. Significant progress of the Ukrainian economic science in this period are the theoretical achievements of representatives of the Kyiv School of Political Economy. In the works of M. Bunge, D. Pikhno, R. Orzhentsky, and O. Bilimovych, the attention was focused on the development of the theory of value with the use of marginal analysis, the psychological foundations of the theory of value were supported, and the emphasis was placed on the social orientation of research. E. Slutsky's works «The Theory of Marginal Utility», and «On the Theory of Consumer Budget» reflected new approaches to understanding utility as an economic category, determined the value of market goods in terms of their usefulness and rarity, and initiated the study of market behavior and mechanisms of formation and stability of the consumer budget. In the context of the formation of the new methodology for economic analysis, the author reveals the priority and significance of the creation of the synthetic theory of value by M. Tugan-Baranovsky. The article highlights the significant influence of Ukrainian scientists of the studied period on the development of world economic science and substantiates the necessity of further study of their scientific work.