By the end of 1927, Sraffa, not yet in his thirties, showed Keynes a system of three linear and homogeneous equations to determine prices in an economy without surplus. We now know that these quot;first equationsquot; were to be the starting point for his future (1960) book. Considered as such,...

In the first part of, four equation systems are introduced: three are drawn up in order to solve the problem of relative prices; the last one is devised to define a suitable standard of prices. The book was published in 1960, but-as we are told in the preface-its 'central propositions' and a...