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Leon
Walras (1834-1910) transformed economics from a literary
discipline into a mathematical, deterministic science. For the
first time, Walras expressed rigorously the view that all markets
are related, and that their relationships can be described and
analyzed mathematically. These interrelated markets tend toward
a "general equilibrium" position, undergoing a constant interactive
adjustment process that Walras called a "tatonnement". This
conception of economics led to important new insights about
the stability of markets and about the capitalist economic system.
A
follower of Walras, Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923), viewed
economics as part of the broader science of sociology, extending
Walrasian analysis to say that society at large is an equilibrium
system. This view profoundly influenced the modern course of
the "social sciences', in which quantitative techniques have
become standard analytical tools. Many later scholars have been
awarded the Nobel Prize for developing the Walrasian analysis
of capitalism.
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