The Elusive Standard Commodity: Eigenvectors as Standards of Value

Abstract

Eigenvectors and eigenvalues are among the most useful tools for analyzing properties of input-output systems. At present, undoubtedly, they are used mainly to analyze dynamic systems, in which they define the von Neumann balanced growth path and the corresponding growth rates. It is precisely in this field that some of Andrew Bródy’s greatest contributions to economics are found. His work on the structure and the normative implications of the von Neumann growth path has become one of the cornerstones of economic analysis. Here, Bródy was one of the first authors to realize the importance of matrix theory to economic analysis. This in itself is quite remarkable, because in those days many developments in linear algebra were often hardly accessible to economists.