| Sumario: | Walras is famous for his indication of how demand curves can, in principle, be derived from utility maximization, but it is not usually recognized that Walras did not have partial equilibrium demand curves in mind. He focused instead on the context of exchange, and he used a special type of “general equilibrium” demand curve in which demand is expressed as a function of relative price. Despite their central role in the analysis of exchange, the demand and supply curves produced by Walras, and extended by Launhardt, have been almost entirely “lost” in the literature. Although they have been independently rediscovered a number of times, Walras's approach has never been systematically developed. Walras's approach is a potentially useful tool, especially given the ease with which the functions demonstrate the possibility of multiple equilibria and the increased use of non-linear methods in economics. The derivation of Walras's curves is explored.
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