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p.5 In the process of solving the economic problem, the best spatial arrangement of all economic activity will be explicitly determined.
An excellent statement of this interdependence can be found in a recent article by Walter Isard. We conclude our statement with his summary:
We conceive the general theory of location and space-economy to be one which comprehends the economy in its totality. Not only are the mutual relations and interdependence of all economic elements, both in the aggregate and atomistically, of fundamental importance; but the spatial as well as the temporal (dynamic) character of the interrelated economic processes must enter the picture... In summary, the general theory of location and space-economy is conceived as embracing the total spatial array of economic activities, with attention paid to the geographic distribution of inputs and outputs and the geographic variations in prices and costs. Modern general equilibrium theory is a special case of this theory, in which transport costs are taken as zero and all inputs and outputs are viewed as perfectly mobile... One proceeds from the latter to the former by assuming a given locational structure of economic activities, by erecting appropriate barriers within the world economy to correspond to the boundaries of nations, and so forth. [JLJ - text corrected from the original with a fuller citation used from the 1956 Isard text https://archive.org/stream/locationspaceeco00isar/locationspaceeco00isar_djvu.txt]
p.71 Throughout the preceding pages the spatial structure of agriculture is explained on the basis of a static equilibrium... The influence of space is explicitly considered. In reality, of course, the economic structure is in a continuous state of flux. A theory of location must take into account not only geographic modifications but the modifications of time as well.
p.82 It is important to realize that an analysis of change is a great deal more complex than has been indicated.
p.83 The study of dynamics has never reached a stage of refinement. Much depends upon empirical relationships about which we know little. However, consider briefly some of the problems that will arise in a truly dynamic analysis. In the first place, the transition to a new equilibrium is never instantaneous, but is characterized by lags in adjustment. It is not an orderly slowly moving equilibrium from one position of rest to another. Frequently some of the equilibrium determinants adjust more rapidly than others causing all manner of irregularities... At best the final equilibrium is a delayed equilibrium and is gradually approached through a series of dampened oscillations.
p.84 At every phase in the development of agriculture, the equilibrium tendency of its spatial orientation is intimately shaped and altered by the historical sequence of its development.
p.85 The inherent difficulty of the problem is well expressed in a statement by Vidal de La Blache: "Many anomalies warn us that the present distribution... is merely temporary, a result of complex causes in a constant state of flux.... The present distribution is only a stage, not even a stable one, in an evolution whose progress we cannot altogether understand. Some of its causes are permanent, some no longer active, others just beginning to function."
p.86 An economist who is cognizant of the limitations of his analytical tool is in a position to make a more realistic analysis.
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