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Stabilizing consumer choice: the role of 'true dynamic stability' and related concepts in the history of consumer choice theory

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  • D. Wade Hands

Abstract

It is often argued that the inability of Arrow-Debreu general equilibrium theory to produce an adequate proof of the stability of the Walrasian price adjustment mechanism was one of the program's most significant failures. This paper will not question this standard interpretation of the history of general equilibrium theory, but makes the case that characterizing the 'stability' question in terms of market stability- in particular the stability of the equilibrium price vector in the Walrasian general equilibrium model - actually helped to stabilize the standard model of consumer choice in general equilibrium theory and elsewhere within microeconomics. The problem of the stability of 'consumer's equilibrium' was much discussed early in the twentieth century, and it has recently re-emerged in a different guise as the 'endowment effects' and 'reference dependencies' of contemporary behavioral economics, and yet it disappeared from mainstream discussion during the period 1950 to 1980. This paper argues that shifting the discussion from the intra-agent stability of the individual consumer to the inter-agent stability of the competitive market contributed - despite its ultimately negative impact on general equilibrium theory - to the long period of stable normal science consumer choice theory enjoyed during the middle of the twentieth century.

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  • D. Wade Hands, 2010. "Stabilizing consumer choice: the role of 'true dynamic stability' and related concepts in the history of consumer choice theory," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 313-343.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:eujhet:v:17:y:2010:i:2:p:313-343
    DOI: 10.1080/09672560903204585
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Amadae, S.M., 2003. "Rationalizing Capitalist Democracy," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226016535, September.
    2. Nicola Giocoli, 2003. "Modeling Rational Agents," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2585.
    3. Philip Mirowski & D. Wade Hands, 2006. "Introduction to Agreement on Demand: Consumer Theory in the Twentieth Century," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 38(5), pages 1-6, Supplemen.
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    Cited by:

    1. D. Wade Hands, 2012. "The Rise and Fall of Walrasian Microeconomics: The Keynesian Effect," Chapters, in: Microfoundations Reconsidered, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. repec:got:cegedp:127 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. D Wade Hands, 2013. "GP08 is the New F53: Gul and Pesendorfer’s Methodological Essay from the Viewpoint of Blaug’s Popperian Methodology," Chapters, in: Marcel Boumans & Matthias Klaes (ed.), Mark Blaug: Rebel with Many Causes, chapter 17, pages 245-266, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Schüder, Stefan, 2011. "Monetary policy trade-offs in a portfolio model with endogenous asset supply," MPRA Paper 32019, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Marcel Boumans & Matthias Klaes (ed.), 2013. "Mark Blaug: Rebel with Many Causes," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15224.
    6. Stefan Schueder, 2011. "Monetary Policy Trade-Offs in a Portfolio Model with Endogenous Asset Supply," Working Papers 2011.3, International Network for Economic Research - INFER.
    7. Schüder, Stefan, 2014. "Expansive monetary policy in a portfolio model with endogenous asset supply," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 239-252.
    8. Schüder, Stefan, 2011. "Monetary policy trade-offs in a portfolio model with endogenous asset supply," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 127, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.

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