The Classical Theory of Normal Prices and the Analysis of Economic Changes: A Comment

This paper examines the critical remarks that D'Orlando (2005) addresses to the classical theory of value based on ‘normal’ positions, and briefly comments on the alternative dynamic analysis of short-run prices that he recommends. The first part refutes D'Orlando's considerations about the method traditionally adopted in classical analysis and discusses the claim that the characteristic structure of classical theory prevents consistent determination of the normal prices. The second part moves on to consider the basic elements of D'Orlando's proposed short-period analysis and argues that they are problematic on both theoretical and methodological grounds.