Dear Kevin, 

A.N. Isnard writes (my translation): 'particular products share in the dearness that results from the decrease in the quantity of products with similar or homogeneous qualities , and the prices of things do not only depend on their own abundance or scarcity, but also on the abundance or scarcity of other products that have relations of utility or homogeneity with them'. The passage does not contain any specific term for complements (or substitutes) and it is a somewhat isolated observation. But it was published as early as 1781 (Traite des richesses, vol 1, p.28) and may therefore interest to you. Obviously, you are going to run into problems of interpretation if you're going to pursue this kind of analysis further back in time than, say, the late 19th century.

Richard van den Berg   
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From: Societies for the History of Economics [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kevin Hoover [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2012 6:12 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [SHOE] Substitutes and Complements

Can anyone point to the earliest account of the distinction between substitutes and complements -- conceptually, if not in those very words?

Kevin Hoover



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