This punchy book unites mainline mathematical economics and sometimes idiosyncratic political economy. Freshness is brought to the market concept giving general equilibrium theory a new lease of life, and an opening of thought on such matters as free trade, globalization and the environment.
Where most theories of general equilibrium have been based on utility maximizing traders, Afriat here maintains the view that the topic essentially is concerned with aggregates and that anything to do with utility is at best secondary if not spurious. The book goes on to discuss...

A theft amounting to L1 was a capital offence in 1260 and a judge in 1610 affirmed the law could not then be applied since L1 was no longer what it was. Such association of money with a date is well recognized for its importance in very many connections. Thus arises the need to know how to convert an amount at one date into the right amount at another date: in other words, a price index.
The longstanding question concerning how such an index should be constructed is known as 'The Index Number Problem'. The ordinary consumer price index represents a practical response to this need. However...