Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I The models of the mature phase
- 1 Walras's conception of a competitive market economy
- 2 The mature models: Not a normative scheme
- 3 The mature models of the barter of stocks of commodities
- 4 Institutions and participants in the model of monetary oral pledges markets
- 5 Disequilibrium and equilibrium in the model of monetary oral pledges markets
- 6 The structure of the mature nondurable consumer commodities model
- 7 The equilibrating processes in the mature nondurable consumer commodities model
- 8 The structure of the mature comprehensive model
- 9 The equilibrating processes in the mature comprehensive model
- 10 Walras and his critics on the maximum utility of new capital goods
- 11 The mature models of the money market
- 12 Iteration in the mature model of tatonnement
- 13 The mature model of the behavior of the entrepreneur
- 14 Walras versus Edgeworth on tatonnement processes
- Part II The models of the phase of decline
- References
- Collation of editions of the Eléments
- Index
14 - Walras versus Edgeworth on tatonnement processes
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I The models of the mature phase
- 1 Walras's conception of a competitive market economy
- 2 The mature models: Not a normative scheme
- 3 The mature models of the barter of stocks of commodities
- 4 Institutions and participants in the model of monetary oral pledges markets
- 5 Disequilibrium and equilibrium in the model of monetary oral pledges markets
- 6 The structure of the mature nondurable consumer commodities model
- 7 The equilibrating processes in the mature nondurable consumer commodities model
- 8 The structure of the mature comprehensive model
- 9 The equilibrating processes in the mature comprehensive model
- 10 Walras and his critics on the maximum utility of new capital goods
- 11 The mature models of the money market
- 12 Iteration in the mature model of tatonnement
- 13 The mature model of the behavior of the entrepreneur
- 14 Walras versus Edgeworth on tatonnement processes
- Part II The models of the phase of decline
- References
- Collation of editions of the Eléments
- Index
Summary
This chapter evaluates Francis Y. Edgeworth's criticisms of Walras's mature work on tatonnement as expressed in his mature model of nondurable consumer commodities and his mature comprehensive model. The reason for undertaking the evaluation is that Edgeworth's criticisms deal with basic issues in the interpretation of Walras's ideas about adjustment processes, their importance within his general-equilibrium model and to the economic theory of his time, their methodological soundness, and the breadth of their applicability. An examination of Edgeworth's criticisms therefore contributes to an understanding of the characteristics, function, and value of the mature comprehensive model.
Introduction
Walras had developed the major outlines and the details of his mature conception of the adjustment process of a competitive market system by 1889, when he published the second edition of the Eléments. Edgeworth's criticisms were first presented in his review (1889a) of that edition. He had warned that Walras might not like the review (Edgeworth to Walras, August 20, 1889, in 1965, 2, letter 910, pp. 338–39), but Walras feigned unconcern about the matter, commenting that because he expected some more or less lively criticisms, he had been careful not to go to the library in Lausanne to read them (Walras to Charles Gide, September 20, 1889, in 1965, 2, letter 923, 2, p. 357; and see Walras to Luigi Perozzo, October 13, 1889, in 1965, 2, letter 925, p. 359). Of course, he soon succumbed to temptation, and became involved in a vigorous and sometimes acrimonious controversy with Edgeworth.
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- Walras's Market Models , pp. 302 - 316Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1996
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