Price theory

It is now more than a decade since the contents of this book were first mimeo graphed and used in classes in price theory at the University of Chicago. Throughout that period, I have been extremely reluctant to have these notes offered for general sale. The reluctance has derived from my dissatisfaction with their scrappy nature, from my intention to use them as a basis for a fuller and more satisfactory treatment of price theory, and from my optimistic belief that I would be able to turn to the preparation of the fuller treatment momentarily. As an empirical economist, however, I cannot neglect the evidence that has accumulated in that decade. Clearly, I must reject the hypothesis that a fuller treatment is imminent. Moreover, it has not been feasible to keep the mimeo graphed notes from getting fairly wide circulation. Hence, despite my continued dissatis faction with them, it has seemed best to make them generally available.