Marshall's 'welfare economics' and 'welfare': a reappraisal based on his unpublished manuscript on progress

Marshall’s contribution to welfare economics is often summarized in the analytical tools developed in his Principles of Economics. Nonetheless, Marshall’s welfare economics cannot be reduced to the analysis developed in Principles. There are other writings where it is possible to find a more comprehensive reasoning on welfare: most notably, the notes written for his unpublished book on Progress. In this paper we illustrate Marshall’s view of welfare, taking into account especially those notes, in order to clarify how his true contribution to welfare economics must be distinguished from the simplified version given in Principles.