Background
Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk was born on in Brünn, Moravia, then part of Austria-Hungary, later called Brno in the Czech Republic.
He died in 1914 in Kramsach, Tirol, now in Austria.
Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk was born on in Brünn, Moravia, then part of Austria-Hungary, later called Brno in the Czech Republic.
He died in 1914 in Kramsach, Tirol, now in Austria.
He was trained in the University of Vienna as a lawyer. There he read Carl Menger's Principles of Economics. Though he never studied under Menger, he quickly became an adherent of his theories. During his time at the University of Vienna, he became good friends with Friedrich von Wieser, who later became Böhm-Bawerk's brother-in-law.
After completing his studies he entered, for a short period of time, the Austrian ministry of finance. Afterwards, he spent the 1880s at the University of Innsbruck (1881-1889). During this time he published the first two (out of three) volumes of his magnum opus, entitled Capital and Interest. In 1889, he was called to Vienna by the finance ministry to draft a proposal for direct-tax reform. The Austrian system at the time taxed production heavily, especially during wartime, providing massive disincentives to investment. Böhm-Bawerk's proposal called for a modern income tax, which was soon approved and met with a great deal of success in the next few years.
He then became Austrian Minister of Finance in 1895. He served briefly in the position and then again on another occasion, although a third time he remained in the post for four years, from 1900-1904. As Finance Minister, he fought continuously for strict maintenance of the legally fixed gold standard and a balanced budget. In 1902, he eliminated the sugar subsidy, which had been a feature of the Austrian economy for nearly two centuries. He finally resigned in 1904, when the increased fiscal demands of the army threatened to unbalance the budget, and returned to teaching with a chair at the University of Vienna. Böhm-Bawerk taught many students including Joseph Schumpeter, Ludwig von Mises and Henryk Grossman.
Fundamentals of the theory of economic value of benefits (1886)
Capital and interest (1884—1889)
By the end of the Marxist system (1896)