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Contributions to Political Economy Advance Access published online on May 17, 2007
Contributions to Political Economy, doi:10.1093/cpe/bzm014
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved

MATHEMATICAL NEEDS AND ECONOMIC INTERPRETATIONS

Miguel A. Duran*

Department of Economic Theory and History, University of Málaga, Spain

This paper discusses why the disconnection between formal structures and theoretical content in economic model building can lead to undesirable consequences. By contrast, linking formal and verbal contents by means of coherent and relevant interpretations is worth the effort: it is a relatively simple way of helping to improve mathematical economic theorization. By way of illustration, the interpretation that Arrow and Debreu put on the inclusion of free goods in their proof of existence of general equilibrium is also discussed.

* My thanks to Vicky Chick, Sheila Dow, Giancarlo de Vivo, and two anonymous referees for valuable comments on an earlier draft of this paper. In addition, I acknowledge financial aid from UMA and CECJA (SEJ-194).


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