Alfred Marshall and the Concept of Class

The purpose of this article is to analyze Alfred Marshall’s concept of class. Marshall’s concept of class is not well-studied. His idea of class is different from what Weber and Marx have proposed. In contrast to many other economists, he has a discussion of class that is developed. It is shown that Marshall sees classes as made up of people whose work offers similar chances of developing their higher faculties. An integrated idea is that different class positions are associated with different discount rates of future outcomes. Marshall’s class theory combines physical and mental components