'This book makes compelling reading for anyone interested in exploring the foundations of monetary theory from a rigorous general equilibrium perspective.' – Gabriele Camera, Purdue University, US 'Introducing the Arrow-Debreu-Starr model of monetary general equilibrium, Professor Starr provides the best defense ever made for the relevance of the Walrasian model to the pure theory of money. While most monetary theorists ventured to the overlapping generations model and then to the search model, only to create recently a hybrid search-Walrasian model, Starr presents the culmination of a patient, career-long effort to integrate money into the basic Walrasian model, with realistic taxation critically helping the government's money to dominate.' – Dror Goldberg, Bar Ilan University, Israel The microeconomic foundation of the theory of money has long represented a puzzle to economic theory. Why is there Money? derives the foundations of monetary theory from advanced price theory in a mathematically precise family of trading post models. It has long been recognized that the fundamental theoretical analysis of a market economy is embodied in the Arrow-Debreu-Walras mathematical general equilibrium model, with one great deficiency: the analysis cannot accommodate money and financial institutions. In this groundbreaking book, Ross M. Starr addresses this problem directly, by expanding the Arrow-Debreu model to include a multiplicity of trading opportunities, with the resultant endogenous derivation of money as the carrier of value among them. This fundamental breakthrough is achieved while maintaining the Walrasian general equilibrium price-theoretic structure, augmented primarily by the introduction of separate bid and ask prices reflecting transaction costs. The result is foundations of monetary theory consistent with and derived from modern price theory. This fascinating book will provide a stimulating and thought-provoking read for academics and postgraduate students focusing on economics, macroeconomics, macroeconomic policy and finance, money and banking. Central bankers will also find much to interest them within this book.

General Equilibrium Models of Monetary Economies: Studies in the Static Foundations of Monetary Theory is a collection of essays that addresses the integration of the theory of money and the theory of value by using a mathematical general equilibrium theory. The papers discuss monetary theory, microeconomic theory, bilateral trade, transactions costs, intertemporal allocation, and the value of money. The Arrow-Debreu model of Walrasian general equilibrium theory provides a framework to represent money as a device for facilitating trade among economic agents without the use of money as a medium of exchange and as a store of value. The essays analyze the rationale for using a medium of exchange, for using a store of value, and for holding of idle balances in equilibrium. The essays show that by explicit modeling of the structure and difficulties of trade, a powerful class of models which deny money and finance a role in the economy, has by itself shown to have provided the foundation for the structures of trade. The collection will prove helpful for economists, statistician, mathematicians, students or professors of economics and business.

Bridel (economics, U. of Lausanne, Switzerland) reconstructs the pioneering attempts of Leon Walras (1834-1910) and Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923) to coordinate money and general equilibrium theory. He argues that the very logic of the original static general equilibrium model excludes the integration of monetary and value theory, shows how money is prevented from playing its essential role as a social institution in allowing monetary exchanges between individuals, and calls for some radical re- thinking about the theoretical construction on which much modern economic theory is based. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

General Equilibrium Theory: An Introduction presents the mathematical economic theory of price determination and resource allocation from elementary to advanced levels, suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students of economics. This Arrow–Debreu model (known for two of its most prominent founders, both Nobel Laureates) is the basis of modern price theory and of a wide range of applications. The new edition updates discussion throughout and expands the number and variety of exercises. It offers a revised and extended treatment of core convergence, including the case of non-convex preferences, and introduces the investigation of approximate equilibrium with U-shaped curves and non-convex preferences.

The central idea of this book is the concept of a currency order. Monetary theory is developed as a theory of currency orders. The book expands the neoclassical theory of currency orders. This new way of looking at the problems permits a general view of the subject matter of monetary theory and policy which so far does not exist. The concept of transaction costs is used throughout. The book deals not only with the theories of the demand for and the supply of money, the banking firm, and the purchasing power of money. It also presents a theoretically based discussion of the great topics of monetary policy of our time: fixed vs. flexible exchange rates, gold vs. paper, rules vs. authority for the central banks, governmental currency monopoly vs. competition of private currencies, regulation vs. deregulation of commercial banks. The book is suitable as a text for students with a knowledge of money and banking and intermediate microeconomics. It offers a consistent and well-written presentation of the subject matter, as well as an extensive list of further readings.

General Equilibrium Theory: An Introduction treats the classic Arrow-Debreu general equilibrium model in a form accessible to graduate students and advanced undergraduates in economics and mathematics. Topics covered include mathematical preliminaries, households and firms, existence of general equilibrium, Pareto efficiency of general equilibrium, the First and Second Fundamental Theorems of Welfare Economics, the core and core convergences, future markets over time and contingent commodity markets under uncertainty. Demand, supply, and excess demand appear first as (point-valued) functions, then optionally as (set-valued) correspondences. The mathematics presented (with elementary proofs of the theorems) includes a real analysis, the Brouwer fixed point theorem, and separating and supporting hyperplane theorems. Optional chapters introduce the existence of equilibrium with set-valued supply and demand, the mathematics of upper and lower hemicontinuous correspondences, and the Kakutani fixed point theorem. The treatment emphasizes clarity and accessibility to the student through use of examples and intuition.

This book deals mainly with what can be described as the general-equilibrium approach to monetary theory. The author does not attempt an encyclopaedic treatment, rather Gale investigates the central problems and ideas in the development of topical monetary theory. The first part of the book - technically the easier - deals with questions which will be recognized as falling within the traditional field of (macroeconomic) monetary theory, although the treatment is unflaggingly microeconomic. The second part is less conventional, dealing with the general equilibrium theory of money in a fundamental way.