SECTION I
The idea of the core of an economy and the convergence of core allocations to the competitive equilibrium are well established in the economic literature. It has been assumed by most authors on this topic that it was Edgeworth who in his Mathematics Psychics first stated and proved the major result concerning the core. [Debreu and Scarf (1963), Arrow and Hahn (1971)]. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to an essay by Turgot where the idea of the core is clearly stated and an argument about the convergence of the core to the competitive equilibrium as the number of consumers increases is first presented. Edgeworth’s Mathematical Psychics came out in 1881, Turgor’s essay was written some time in the 1760’s, definitely by 1770, but did not appear until Du Pont published his Oeuvres in 1808. Either way, if we can persuasively argue Turgot's claim then the discovery of this result is pushed back by more than a hundred years.
