----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- 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 ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]