The Equilibrium Economics of Leon Walras

Does Walras' theory extend beyond Free Competition? Precious literature on Walras has focused on his Elements of pure economics . While this abundance of attention is partly due to the value the economist himself attached to his study, it has tended to present a rather unbalanced view of his life's work. In The Equilibrium Economics of Leon Walras, Drs van Daal and Jolink trace the development of Walras' consective models of general equilibrium through the five editions of his Elements . However, the authors also even-up the overall impression of Walras' work by placing his equilibrium exercises in a much broader prespective and arguing that these models should be considered as an instrument in Walras' design for optimal economic order. The book falls into three distinct sections.Part I deals with some aspects of Walras' theory - the use of mathematics in economics, the notion of free competition, the notion of utility, and price formation in competitive markets. in Part II these aspects are synthesized in the equilibrium models. Part III outlines Walras' views on what he called the Social Question' and how it led him to formulate regulations with respect to monopoly and the production of public goods, and his ideas on State ownership of the land. The authors argue that all the elements can be brought together in a general general equilibrium model' that dislays all the features of the models of Part II. Additional material on the personality of Leon Walras, technical aspects of his theories and solutions to his equilibrium models and tatonnement can be found in the five appendices. The Equilibrium Economics of Leon Walras thus provides an invaluable short introduction to the work of the great French economist.