This title, first published in 1984, considers a temporary monetary equilibrium theory under certainty in a differentiable framework. Using the techniques of differential topology the author investigates the structure of the set of temporary monetary equilibria. Temporary Monetary Equilibrium Theory: A Differentiable Approach will be of interest to students of monetary economics.

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

In a wide number of economic problems the equilibrium values of the variables can be regarded as solutions of a parametrized constrained maximization problem. This occurs in static as well as dynamic models; in the latter case the choice variables are often paths in certain function spaces and thus can be regarded as points in infinite dimensional spaces. It is sometimes possible to determine qualitative properties of the solutions with respect to changes in the parameters of the model. The study of such properties is often called comparative statics; [15], [2], and [10]. Certain comparative static properties of the maxima have proven to be of particular importance for economic theory, since the works of Slutsky, Hicks, and Samuelson [15]: they have been for- lated in terms of synunetry and negative semidefiniteness of a matrix, called the Slutsky-Hicks-Samuelson matrix. A discussion of this matrix and its applications is given in Section 1. The study of these properties in economic theory, however, has so far been restricted to static models where the choice variable and the parameters are elements in Euclidean spaces, and where there is only one constraint.

The novel feature of this study is the application of Keynes' principle of effective demand to demonstrate the existence of a long-run unemployment equilibrium without the assumption of rigid wages.

This book, as the title suggests, explains how General equilibrium, the dominant conceptual framework in mainstream economics, describes a perfectly impossible world. Even with its counterfactual assumptions taken for granted, it fails on many levels. Under the impressive editorship of Ackerman and Nadal, this book will appeal to students and researchers in economics and related social science disciplines.

This is an excerpt from the 4-volume dictionary of economics, a reference book which aims to define the subject of economics today. 1300 subject entries in the complete work cover the broad themes of economic theory. This extract concentrates on the topic of general equilibrium.