Friedrich von Wieser, pioneer in the study of society within Austrian thought

Abstract

Friedrich von Wieser was an economist who studied the relationship between economic science and social institutions. He gave us a great deal of instruments and ways to solve economic problems taking into account economic freedom. One of those contributions was a progressive taxation on goods and services in terms of marginal utility. This essay tries to focus, first of all, on the main ideas about Economy as a part of social context, and in second place, shows a model of progressive taxation on goods and services in terms of marginal utility as Wieser did. It is concluded that, by charging low taxes to higher marginal utility units, the well-being of low-income people is not harmed and that of high-income people is not harmed, since a fixed rate would not be paid.