Statesman and economist Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk remains one of Karl Marx’s most scathing critics.
Born in 1851, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk distinguished himself as an economist, writing on theories of capital and interest. His work, Karl Marx and the Close of His System, remains one of the most thorough rebuttals of the labor theory of value. But beyond his work as an economist, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk put theory into practice as a statesman arguing against the rapid fiscal expansion of the Austrian state.
Paul Meany is the editor for intellectual history at Libertarianism.org, a project of the Cato Institute. Most of his work focuses on examining thinkers who predate classical liberalism but still articulate broadly liberal attitudes and principles. He is the host of Portraits of Liberty, a podcast about uncovering and exploring underrated figures throughout history who have argued for a freer world. His writing covers a broad range of topics, including proto-feminist writers, Classical Greece and Rome’s influence on the American Founding, ancient Chinese philosophy, tyrannicide, and the first argument for basic income.