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Numeraire

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The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics
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Abstract

In general equilibrium theory the price of one good in terms of another is interpreted as the amount of the second which can be exchanged for a given amount of the first. There is thus no essential role for a standard of value, or numéraire, though it is frequently helpful to introduce this. Such a numéraire is a commodity in terms of which, by convention, other commodities are valued.

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Bibliography

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Allingham, M. (2018). Numeraire. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1514

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