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A very prominent and influential user of the word 'agent' is Gerard
Debreu. In my copy of _Theory of Value: An Axiomatic Analysis of
Economic Equilibrium_ (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1959), p.75,
in the chapter entitled "Equilibrium," Debreu writes:
"A state of the economy E is a specification of the action of each
agent, i.e., for each consumer (resp. producer) a specification of
his consumption xi (resp. production yi) in the commodity space."
Perhaps a study of Debreu's references will yield earlier uses.
Bruce Larson
University of North Carolina at Asheville
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