The notion of solution plays a crucial role in the conceptual system of Léon Walras, the founder of General Equilibrium Theory (GET). In this paper, after introducing the two solution concepts employed by Walras in the development of his version of GET, respectively called the "theoretical" and...

Walras' theory of general economic equilibrium undergoes deep changes over the twenty-six years elapsing from the date when Walras' first significant theoretical contribution is published (1874) and the date when the fourth edition of his fundamental work, the Eléments d'économie politique...

This paper documents an early fork in the development of macroeconomics, by examining a debate between the Dutch economists Jan Tinbergen and Johan Koopmans. In a 1932 paper, Tinbergen argued that two firms could be stuck in a “bad” equilibrium in the absence of a coordinated action to...

For his proof of the existence of a general competitive equilibrium Abraham Wald assumed a strictly pseudomonotone inverse market demand function or, equivalently, that market demand satisfies the Weak Axiom of Revealed Preference. It is well known that more recent existence theorems do not need...

Private state-verification is introduced in a two-period economy with spot markets in both periods and complete futures markets for contingent delivery in the second period. Existence of equilibrium is established, under standard assumptions. The equilibrium allocation is shown to be generically...

Computable General Equilibrium models represent a state-of-the-art multisectoral tool for policy analysis in mixed economies. Simulations of the model provide insight into the quantitative structural effects of economic policies, taking into account interactions throughout the economy in a...

Following Mittermaier's search for "the hand behind the invisible hand" and using some results of my research on the so-called Lausanne school, this article attempts to discuss the two very different invisible hands behind Walras' and Pareto's respective version of general equilibrium. Unlike...

Focussing on their analysis of the optimal public goods provision problem, this paper follows the parallel development of equilibrium models and mechanism design after the accommodation of Samuelson's definition of collective goods to the general equilibrium framework. Both paradigms lead to the...

Schumpeter regarded "The Nature of Capital and Income" as one of the three of Fisher's contributions to general theory generally recognized, at the time Schumpeter was writing, as "of first-class importance and originality." The other two were Fisher's "Mathematical Investigations" (1982) and...