Disequilibrium Foundations of Equilibrium Economics

This 1984 book proposes a general model of economic analysis based upon disequilibrium.

Franklin M. Fisher (Author)

9780521378567, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 31 March 1989

252 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.38 kg

The most common mode of analysis in economic theory is to assume equilibrium. Yet, without a proper theory of how economies behave in disequilibrium, there is no foundation for such a practice. The necessary step in proposing a foundation is the formulation of a theory of stability, and in this 1984 book, Professor Fisher is primarily concerned with this subject, although disequilibrium behavior itself is analyzed. The author first undertakes a review of the existing literature on the stability of general equilibrium. He then proposes a more satisfactory general model in which agents realize their state of disequilibrium and act on arbitrage opportunities. The interrelated topics of the role of money, the nature of quantity constraints, and the optimal behaviour of arbitraging agents are extensively treated.

Acknowledgments
1. Introduction: disequilibrium analysis and the theory of value
Part I. Methods and Problems of the General Equilibrium Stability Literature: 2. The development of the stability literature
3. Hahn Process models: formal treatment
Part II. A Model of Disequilibrium with Arbitraging Agents: 4. Allowing disequilibrium awareness
5. The theory of the individual agent
6. Transaction difficulties, individual price offers, and monopoly power
7. Walras' Law and the properties of equilibrium
8. Dynamics and stability
9. Concluding thoughts
Appendix
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Econometrics [KCH]