"Index numbers are, of course, desired for purposes other than to measure the cost of living. One obvious possibility is to consider some subset of cost-of- living items, such as food. The logic of the preceding argument goes through precisely provided we assume that the distribution of food expenditures in any period among different foods depends only on the total volume of food expenditures and is independent of the prices of other goods, for any given total volume of food expenditures. This does not deny substitution between foods and other commodities, but we assume that the total effect of this substitution is already reflected in the choice of a volume of food expenditures. In a broad way, similar considerations apply to the pricing of producers’ goods, which should be interpreted as reflecting indirectly consumers’ preferences. However, there is undoubtedly a good deal more in the detailed working out of the theory that has never been developed."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from the United StatesPeople from New York CityMathematicians from the United StatesEconomists from the United StatesNobel laureates in Economics
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
"The Measurement of Price Change", in Joint Economic Commitee. U. S. Congress, "The Relationship of Prices to Economic Stability and Growth (1958)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kenneth_Arrow
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Kenneth Arrow
Kenneth Joseph Arrow (August 23, 1921 – February 21, 2017) was an American economist, who was Professor Emeritus of Economics in Stanford, and joint winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics with John Hicks in 1972.
151 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Kenneth Arrow →
Related Quotes
"There is no need to enlarge upon the importance of a realistic theory explaining how individuals choose among alterna…"
"Among economic phenomena which have in some way been tied up with the existence of uncertainty, three classes may be …"
"The businessman may be compared with two other types of individuals who are essentially concerned with behavior under…"
"Traditional welfare economics shows that there are certain of these combinations that will be preferred by all the vo…"
"In a capitalist democracy there are essentially two methods by which social choices can be made: voting, typically us…"
"Ever since I encountered Hicks’s Value and Capital while I was still a graduate student, I had the aim of completing …"
"L. Walras first formulated the state of the economic system at any point of time as the solution of a system of simul…"
"Perhaps as important is the relation between the existence of solutions to a competitive equilibrium and the problems…"
"The government may be regarded as a decision-making entity. Among the decisions it makes are the formation of economi…"
"The terms of trade with the outside world should not be regarded as freely given to the firm. In a world with a large…"