“This axiom, the proposition that humans act, fulfills the requirements precisely for a true synthetic a priori proposition. It cannot be denied that this proposition is true, since the denial would have to be categorized as an action – and so the truth of the statement literally cannot be undone”
(Hoppe, Economic Science and the Austrian Method, p. 22) |
|
1) One's value scale is totally (linearly) ordered:
i) Transitive; p  q and q r imply p r
ii) Reflexive; p p
iii) Antisymetric; p q and q p imply p = q
iv) Total; p q or q p
2) Marginal (diminishing) utility, u(s), is such that:
i) It is independent of first-unit demand.
ii) It is negative monotonic; that is, u'(s) < 0.
iii) The integral of u(s) from zero to infinity is finite.
3) First-unit demand conforms to proportionate effect:
| |
i) |
Value changes each day by a proportion (called 1+ j, with j denoting the day), of the previous day's value. |
| |
ii) |
In the long run, the j's may be considered random as they are not directly related to each other nor are they uniquely a function of value. |
| |
iii) |
The j's are taken from an unspecified distribution with a finite mean and a non-zero, finite variance . |
(Aguilar, Axiomatic Theory of Economics, pp. xxiii-xxiv) |
