Leon Walras (1834-1910) is one of the four or five most important economic theorists in the history of the science. The present book is a complete English translation of the second edition (1936) of his Etudes d'economie sociale (1896), in which he applies economic theory to real problems, presents the essence of his normative economic ideas, and reveals himself to have also been a great thinker on human nature, justice, mores, and the structure of scientific inquiry and knowledge. The book will be of interest to researchers and postgraduate students in the area of the history of economics as well as those interested in Walrasian topics, such as social justice, taxation, intellectual property, and land ownership.

LA(c)on Walras (1834a "1910) is one of the four or five most important economic theorists in the history of the science. The present book is a complete English translation of the second edition (1936) of his A0/00tudes da (TM)A(c)conomie sociale (1896), in which he applies economic theory to real problems, presents the essence of his normative economic ideas, and reveals himself to have also been a great thinker on human nature, justice, a mores, and the structure of scientific inquiry and knowledge.

The book will be of interest to researchers and postgraduate students in the area of the history of economics as well as those interested in Walrasian topics, such as social justice, taxation, intellectual property, and land ownership.

Does Walras' theory extend beyond free competition? Literature on Walras has focused on his "Elements of pure economics". While this is partly due to the value the economist himself attached to his study, it has tended to present a rather unbalanced view of his life's work. In "The Equilibrium Economics of Leon Walras, Van Daal and Jolink trace the development of Walras' consecutive models of general equilibrium through the five editions of his "Elements". However, the authors also even-up the overall impression of Walras' work by placing his equilibrium exercises in a much broader prespective and arguing that these models should be considered as an instrument in Walras' design for optimal economic order. The book falls into three distinct sections. Part 1 deals with some aspects of Walras' theory - the use of mathematics in economics, the notion of free competition, the notion of utility, and price formation in competitive markets. In Part 2, these aspects are synthesized in the equilibrium models. Part 3 outlines Walras' views on what he called the "social question", and how it led him to formulate regulations with respect to monopoly.

The existing literature on Walras has focused on his Elements of Pure Economics to an extent which has unbalanced our view of his work. Jan van Daal and Albert Jolink pay very careful attention to Walras' general equilibrium models, tracing their development through the five editions of his Elements. But they also place his equilibrium exercises in a broader context, arguing that these models should be considered as an instrument in Walras' design for optimal economic order.

In his fourth edition of Elements of Theoretical Economics (1900), Leon Walras introduced the device of written pledges to eliminate path dependency: sellers of products and services write out commitments to supply certain quantities at suggested prices with no commodities actually produced and supplied until a set of prices is found at which supply and demand are equal simultaneously in every market. This brought about very serious alterations to the character of the book. Unfortunately, these changes resulted in an incomplete, internally contradictory, and occasionally incoherent text. This translation, therefore, by the two leading scholars of Leon Walras's work, Donald Walker and Jan van Daal, revisits the third edition of this seminal work, including Walras's brilliant explanation of his comprehensive model, with all its richness derived from reality. Growing research into Walras's research indicates that it was this third edition that contained his best theoretical research and a translation of this edition of the book is now a necessity."

In his fourth edition of Éléménts d'économie politique pure (1900), León Walras introduced the device of written pledges to eliminate path dependency: sellers of products and services write out commitments to supply certain quantities at suggested prices with no commodities actually produced and supplied until a set of prices is found at which supply and demand are equal simultaneously in every market. This brought about very serious alterations to the character of the book. Unfortunately, these changes resulted in an incomplete, internally contradictory, and occasionally incoherent text. This translation, therefore, by two leading scholars of León Walras' work, Donald A. Walker and Jan van Daal, revisits the third edition of this seminal work, including Walras' brilliant explanation of his comprehensive model, with all its richness derived from reality. Growing research into Walras' work indicates that it was this third edition that contained his best theoretical research and a translation of this edition of the book is now a necessity.