Issue № 62. June 2017

The Problem of Price in Economic Theory and Public Administration

Dr. Sc., Professor, Ulyanovsk State University, Ulyanovsk, Russian Federatin.
E-mail: vkgorbunov@mail.ru

The problem of price is a central one for any economic activity, and its significance grows with the scale of the activity, especially when it comes to the matters of public administration and regulation of economy. However, the modern economic theory, the mainstream of which is represented by the neoclassical economics, appears to be incapable to offer a theory of market demand necessary for creation of the price theory which would ensure the national efficiency of an economy. Correspondingly, economists and managers often are guided in their actions only by the “world prices” which are formed in the foreign exchange markets of the main resourses’ consumers in often unpredictable ways. Neoclassical “failure” in creating the theory of market demand and value is a consequence of the ideologized normative approach to economics within the frame of “methodological individualism”. The effective price formation problem can be solved by developing a holistic (systemic) theory of market demand and economic equilibrium for each national economy, and the resulting prices must depend on the country’s climatic, technological and other particularities, as well as on the “collective preferences” of its population. The calculation of the equilibrium prices is possible, and they should be taken into account when addressing the problems of economic regulation.

Keywords

Crisis of economic theory, market demand, equilibrium, methodological individualism, holism, statistical ensemble of consumers, Cassel-Wald's model, uniqueness of equilibrium.