Abstract
Discusses the economic contributions of George Barclay Richardson.
Detailing the Austrian and Marshallian aspects of his work, argues that
all his contributions – on industrial organization, welfare
economics, history of thought, etc. – are united in their concern
with the co‐ordination problem, that is, the problem of theoretically
demonstrating how order may be achieved in decentralized market
economies. Furthermore, argues that Richardson′s work from 1953 to 1972
in the answers it gave to this problem anticipated a number of themes
that have only recently acquired prominence in economic theory,
specifically in neo‐institutionalist thought. The pioneering originality
of his work also partly accounts for the relative neglect with which it
was originally received.