An Assessment of Subjectivism. Its Meaning and its Limits

This working-paper deals with the meaning of the subjective theory of value. It is argued that in spite of its wide utilization in economic theory, subjectivism is an equivocal concept generating incompatible interpretations. The affluence of various and incompatible interpretations is the consequence of a conception that is either too complex or too elastic. This is the case since the subjective theory of value cannot accommodate most of the features that are traditionally associated with it: utility, marginalism, ordinal evaluation, knowledge, expectations. Actually, this working-paper defends a specific view of subjectivism which is much simpler than most of its current interpretations.