Essentials of Price Theory

This volume is a general survey of pure value and distribution theory written for students who have completed a more discursive elementary course, or, perhaps, for a select group of students entering on a series of courses in economics. The book is divided into two parts. Book I is a good, intelligent treatment of the scope and methods of Economics. Book II contains an algebraic analysis of pricing in an economy of two individuals, and of pricing and distribution with two commodities. Changes in price and distribution equilibria over time are discussed and illustrated in a series of admirably executed three-dimensional diagrams. This is the author's attempt to sharpen and clarify in his own mind the basic principles and concepts of price theory. It attempts to be precise and it is entirely devoted to the problems of price theory. It may help some students of economics to concentrate on the fundamental problems of price theory and to master rigorous techniques in a way a more discursive book could not.