The story of the body of economic analysis that were initiated by Léon Walras can be divided into developments before and after 1930. During the period before 1930 there were two phases to the story. The first was the seminal achievement of Walras. The second was the refinements and extensions made by the generation of Walrasian theorists that followed him. During the period after 1930 the story is also divided into two phases. One is the work that has been done on the type of Walrasian model in which there are no disequilibrium transactions. The other is the beginning of work on the behavior of general equilibrium systems in which disequilibrium transactions and production occur. These phases will be sketched very briefly with the objective of giving a beginner's introduction to some major aspects of the history of general equilibrium theory.

In April 1909 Léon Walras (1834–1910) presented his last lecture before the Société Vaudoise des Sciences Naturelles at Lausanne. The subject dealt with in this lecture was the analogy between the mathematics used in economics and that employed in mechanics; it is reformulated in what turned out to be one of Walras's last publications, entitled ‘Economique et Mécanique.’

“The stimulation given by the General Theory to the construction and testing of aggregative models may well prove to be Keynes's chief contribution to economics in the longer perspective of historical judgement.”

On October 1, 1936 the Stockholm economists hosted a very distinguished guest, John Maynard Keynes. Homeward bound from a visit to the Soviet Union, Keynes appeared at the Political Economy Club. The minutes, as recorded by Ingvar Svennilson, relate:

1. 1. At the invitation of the club, Mr. J.M. Keynes lectured at the Institute of Social Science on the subject “My grounds for departure from orthodox economic traditions.” The lecture was arranged with support from J.H. Palme's fund for economic education and economic research. Some 100 persons attended the lecture.

2. 2. Following the lecture, the club arranged a dinner at the student union building. In addition to Mr. and Mrs. Keynes, the dinner was attended by: the chairman Professor Ohlin, Miss Kock, Messrs. Björ, Böök, Cederwall, Dahlgren, Hammarskjöld, Helger, Johansson, Lagercrantz (guest), Lundberg, Myrdal, Rothlieb, Rooth, Suoviranta (Finland, guest) and Wigforss, as well as the undersigned. After dinner there was a discussion that continued until midnight.

A recent comparative study of the economists' participation in government, draws negative conclusions with respect to this profession in Italy. The Italian case was shown to have been weak both in the teaching of economics at University level and lacking in the provision of a clearly defined and a highly specialized academic training. The complaint that Italian economists were generally devoted to teaching microeconomics, rather than macroeconomics, which is more strongly linked to political and productive demands, has often been heard.

Two new schools of thought have recently emerged in public finance: fiscal constitutionalism, founded on the theory of Leviathan government, and supplyside economics, popularly perceived in terms of the Laffer curve. Comments by several writers have raised the possibility of conflicts betweens the tax principles of the two schools. In particular, both Brunner (1982) and Reynolds (1982) criticized supply-siders for emphasizing tax cuts to increase public revenues and ignoring the importance of placing limits on governmental growth. In addition, McKenzie's description of “constitutional economics” as an intellectual movement that “promises far more radical reforms of government than those ever attempted by Keynesian and supply-side economics” (1984, p. 1) indicates that “constitutional” and supply-side economics are different. Yet, his discussion of the Laffer curve and supply-side tax cuts from a constitutional economist's perspective leaves the distinct impression that the two schools are in agreement on tax policy positions.

A substantial collection of Malthus manuscripts has recently been discovered at Ryde (Isle of Wight), in the home of Robert Malthus (1881–1972), the great-grandson of Malthus' brother. Discoveries of other Malthus documents, notably his travel diaries, had been made at Ryde in the early 1960s in response to the enquiries of G.F. McCleary and Patricia James, but this new material was apparently overlooked by Robert Malthus at that time.