Index Numbers and the General Economic Equilibrium*

What may be called the problem of imputation, which is a central problem of economics, is that of determining how the end product of the industrial process, called consumption goods, comes to be distributed among the individuals or classes of individuals which make up the economic system. Corresponding to the classes of individuals are classes of goods, which may in particular be arranged as follows : 1. Capital or production goods (goods used for the production of other goods). 2. Primary factors, principally labor and the service of lands. 3. Consumption goods. In what follows, by means of indices of prices and productions which have a theoretical foundation, the state of a system is described in terms of these classes. The particular problem most completely discussed is that of equilibrium under strict competition.