ABSTRACT
In his Manuale, Pareto (2006) asserts that “the economic phenomena arise from the contrast between human wants and obstacles met in satisfying them; this line of thought emphasizes soon the concept of economic equilibrium.” Moreover he asserts that “the price concept is inessential and we . . . can do without it.”1 This point of view is not the prevailing one in contemporary economic theory. Arrow-Debreu’s dominant approach is of Walrasian derivation, and identifies general equilibrium with a system of prices, one for each different commodity: at such prices decentralized choices of every economic agent match, and make demand equal to supply for every good.
