Q.Choose the correct option: The Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility was first propounded by:

The Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility is historically credited to the German economist H. H. Gossen, as his First Law. …

The Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility is historically known as Gossen's First Law, after the German economist Hermann Heinrich Gossen, who first formally stated it in the 1850s. (a) Alfred Marshall is incorrect — Marshall developed and popularised the CARDINAL UTILITY framework (total utility, marginal utility, utils) within which the law is usually taught, but he did not originate the law itself. (b) J. R. Hicks is incorrect — Hicks (with R. G. D. Allen) developed the ORDINAL utility approach and indifference curve analysis, an alternative framework that does not rely on this law at all. (d) Adam Smith is incorrect — Smith is associated wi …

Students often answer Marshall because his name is the one most associated with cardinal utility theory in the textbook chapter, without distinguishing between wh …