Conclusion
Irving Fisher noted that Bonamy Price made the same mistake as Tooke and Jevons in confusing real and nominal rates of interest and overlooked the fact that interest, unlike prices, is not an instantaneous but rather a time-based phenomenon (see Fisher 1896: 69—70).
Likewise Price did not grasp the concepts of a bank credit multiplier or the better liquidity of a paper loan note; he just saw bits of paper that changed nothing. His sometimes needless, pedantic nature could often miss the wider point.On the determination of prices, he reached the same conclusion as the marginalists but by a different route. If prices do not reflect average costs of production plus profit then producers will reduce their output. However, Price's approach lacked the power to show how the levels of profit and output could then be determined. There was little, if anything, gained from his introduction of the other factors that play a part in economic decisions as he then left them too vague and ill-defined.
From a modern perspective, Price came intriguingly close to various insights on human capital and behavioural economics only to then veer steadfastly away from them. Much, if not all, of this derives from his reading of Smith.[60] There are germs of promise in an over-consumption theory that could lead to an overshooting of production beyond realised demand as a factor leading to a cyclical downturn, but that is abandoned for an eccentric view of excess capital formation consuming wealth. Price's approach to money and purchasing power enabled him to reject the quantity theory, but he failed then to build on his own insights. Price's use of common sense did not help develop economics. His was a framework for explanation, review and teaching, but not necessarily one for investigation, exploration and the advancement of knowledge. It is hard to escape the conclusion of the Dictionary of National Biography, that, whilst naturally a teacher, Price added nothing to the progress of economics itself (see Hewins and Curthoys 2004).
Although the original writer went on to dismiss the argument, one testimonial from 1851 raised the point ‘that even the highest success as a schoolmaster is no guarantee for like success as a Professor' (Shairp in Anon 1851: 8). Perhaps then, Price's greatest lasting achievements lay in those early years where ‘he shewed himself at Rugby one of the most successful teachers in England' (Tait in ibid.: 1).