Price Theory, Historically Considered: Smith, Ricardo, Marshall and Beyond

Terminology is important. Price theory as the name given to the study of the determination of prices in markets reached ascendancy around the middle of the last century, having been little used at the start of the century and fading from use by the century’s end. Historically considering the theory...

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Main Author: Bloch, Harry
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: History of Economics Thought Society 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/81376
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author Bloch, Harry
author_facet Bloch, Harry
author_sort Bloch, Harry
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Terminology is important. Price theory as the name given to the study of the determination of prices in markets reached ascendancy around the middle of the last century, having been little used at the start of the century and fading from use by the century’s end. Historically considering the theory of price determination from Smith to Ricardo, then to Marshall and beyond, not only reveals how changing terminology is related to the changing nature of the theory, but also identifies changes in the purposes the theory is attempting to achieve. Successive formulations embed different conceptions of what is being explained, which are reflected in the name given to the subject matter. The process is far from a straightforward exercise in improving the theory, with losses in what can be explained detracting from the purported gains in universality or precision.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-813762021-12-03T02:53:01Z Price Theory, Historically Considered: Smith, Ricardo, Marshall and Beyond Bloch, Harry Price Theory Adam Smith David Ricardo Alfred Marshall Terminology is important. Price theory as the name given to the study of the determination of prices in markets reached ascendancy around the middle of the last century, having been little used at the start of the century and fading from use by the century’s end. Historically considering the theory of price determination from Smith to Ricardo, then to Marshall and beyond, not only reveals how changing terminology is related to the changing nature of the theory, but also identifies changes in the purposes the theory is attempting to achieve. Successive formulations embed different conceptions of what is being explained, which are reflected in the name given to the subject matter. The process is far from a straightforward exercise in improving the theory, with losses in what can be explained detracting from the purported gains in universality or precision. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/81376 10.1080/10370196.2020.1745439 English History of Economics Thought Society fulltext
spellingShingle Price Theory
Adam Smith
David Ricardo
Alfred Marshall
Bloch, Harry
Price Theory, Historically Considered: Smith, Ricardo, Marshall and Beyond
title Price Theory, Historically Considered: Smith, Ricardo, Marshall and Beyond
title_full Price Theory, Historically Considered: Smith, Ricardo, Marshall and Beyond
title_fullStr Price Theory, Historically Considered: Smith, Ricardo, Marshall and Beyond
title_full_unstemmed Price Theory, Historically Considered: Smith, Ricardo, Marshall and Beyond
title_short Price Theory, Historically Considered: Smith, Ricardo, Marshall and Beyond
title_sort price theory, historically considered: smith, ricardo, marshall and beyond
topic Price Theory
Adam Smith
David Ricardo
Alfred Marshall
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/81376