Microeconomic Theory
Contrary to widely held beliefs, microeconomic theory bears no rela tion to the size of the product under consideration; indeed a micro theorist can just as easily discuss the sale of a whale as he would discuss a whale of a sale in amoebae. In fact, it
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Microeconomic Theory With 88 Figures
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York London Paris Tokyo
Prof. Dr. Yoshihiko Otani Department of Economics University of Kansas and Thukuba University Ibaraki, Japan Prof. Dr. Mohamed EI-Hodiri Department of Economics University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas 66045-2113
USA
ISBN-13: 978-3-540-17994-8 e-ISBN-13: 978-3-642-72791-7 DOl: 10.1007/978-3-642-72791-7 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data. Otani, Yoshihiko Microeconomic theory. Bibliography: p. 1. Microeconomics. I. EI-Hodiri, Mohamed A., 1938- . II. Title. HBI72.E396 1987 338.5 87-20628 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is only permitted under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its version of June 24,1985, and a copyright fee must always be paid. Violations fall under the prosecution act of the German Copyright Law.
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Preface
Contrary to widely held beliefs, microeconomic theory bears no relation to the size of the product under consideration; indeed a micro theorist can just as easily discuss the sale of a whale as he would discuss a whale of a sale in amoebae. In fact, it possibly is true that a theorist, and a microeconomic theorist in particular, does not have any specific products in mind when he bandies his propositions about. Nor does he have to. For these in the final analysis are just that; propositions. They are propositions that are motivated by economic reality as observable, not to mention controllable, as that may be, but they are no more and no less than comments about that economic reality and they emphatically are not descriptive assays of it. They are more or less, caricatures of economic reality or metaphors where bold distortions are pressed to the task of describing preconceived visions of that reality. These visions, given their fundamentally qualitative nature, are hardly fit to be put to the test of statistical verification. Perhaps only the judgement and "intuitive feel" of practicing economists over the years are the only true tests of the viability and robustness of these propositional comments on economic reality which make up the body of economic theory. It is not the abstractions that make the difference, all science is that way; metaphoric. It is the particular set of axioms or "first principles" and the specific intellectual environment that makes for the particular fuzziness in the nature of truth i
