ABSTRACT
In all the chapters that follow on the economics of allocation you will do well to bear in mind the limitations of the assumptions, or suppositions, to be mentioned below. All of them are commonly although not invariably used in economic textbooks. Some are always used, some occasionally, some provisionally, while others are chosen from a number of alternatives specifically to yield implications illustrating a particular case. In addition there are assumptions, the appropriateness of which are in continuing controversy, though we shall not bother ourselves about them here.
