ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses Lavoisier’s and Le Chatelier’s notions of chemical equilibrium, and their respective interplays with economic equilibrium. We argue that Lavoisier’s notion of chemical equilibrium derived from an economical approach to chemistry. However, rather than suggesting a direct influence of economics upon chemistry, we emphasise the migration of concepts within a historical context. We also discuss an influence in the opposite direction, from chemistry to economics, implicit in Samuelson’s use of the Le Chatelier principle of mobile equilibrium. We express reservations on whether the appropriation of the principle from chemistry to economics was justified.
