Discreditation of consumer surplus

The basis for the study is a critical analysis of the section 7-1 «Consumer Surplus» of Chapter 7 «Consumers, Producers, and the Efficiency of Markets» of the textbook «Principles of Economics» by Gregory Mankiw. The scientific value of the theory of consumer surplus has changed over time. The theory was developed by the creator of Economics Alfred Marshall at the end of the XIX century. At the same time her first serious criticism was voiced. In the middle of the XX century John Hicks tried to rehabilitate the theory, but it slowly but surely moved into Economics textbooks and works on the history of economic thought. A kind of reincarnation of the theory occurred in Russia in the 90s and Gregory Mankiw textbook, which is still popular in Russia, played a significant role in this process, where a kind of «Rehabilitation of consumer surplus» takes place.

The article considers a number of  methodic and  logical mistakes made in the section of the textbook, which allows us to reconsider the approach to the problem of defining the category of «consumer surplus».