What is cardinal school of thought?

Answer 1

The cardinal school of thought, primarily associated with economists like Alfred Marshall, emphasizes the quantifiable aspects of utility and welfare. It focuses on the idea that utility can be measured and compared, allowing for the analysis of consumer behavior based on cardinal utility, which suggests that the satisfaction derived from goods can be expressed in numerical terms. This contrasts with the ordinal approach, which asserts that utility can only be ranked in terms of preference without quantifying the satisfaction level. The cardinal school laid the groundwork for further developments in microeconomic theory.