ABSTRACT
In exploring William Petty economic thought in connection with the search for the roots of development economics, the focus was primarily on his writings on Ireland. Nevertheless, from the point of view of addressing the spatial economy in the framework of an integrated equilibrium analysis, its versatility certainly substantially exceeds that of former spatial-economic modelling strategies. The 'new economic geography' advanced by Krugman and his associates is not the only initiative resulting from this development; it has been, however, "perhaps the best-known example". Spatial specification is seen in its most explicit form in Petty's discussions of the agrarian economy, both internally and in its relation to the economic influence of London. monopolistic competition spatial economics has then opened up an expanded frame of reference in the formal modelling of the global economy, enabling it to address issues which were intractable to analysis in terms of traditional international trade theory.
