The central nerve of neo-classical economics was the analysis of the behaviour of the market system and the mechanisms within it through which an equilibrium could be produced.

Marshall occupied a commanding position in the development of the English tradition of neoclassicism and the sweep of his work was unmatched by other contributors to the neo-classical tradition. Variations on similar themes, however, were run elsewhere. The alternative approaches were inspired by considerations somewhat different from those that had prompted Marshall and often yielded slightly different results. The distinctive tracts of four additional strands of formative neo-classicism deserve inspection, if only in synoptic form: the contributions of the Lausanne, American, Austrian and Swedish traditions.

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