A volume on fewness is not a value theory. But any
value theory in which the economics of fewness receives
merely cursory treatment is seriously incomplete.

The writer places no more than moderate confidence in
some of his tentative answers to the specific questions
raised in this book. He was mainly interested in helping
to develop a general framework suitable for asking the
questions with which realistic inquiries must be concerned. ¹
He hopes that in the approach to practical problems a
framework such as the one here developed will not prove
entirely useless; or, at any rate, that some general frame-
work developed with similar intentions will ultimately
prove useful.

Over a period of many years, the author has had fre-
quent discussions with Professor Howard S. Ellis on the
limits of tolerance of private enterprise systems with re-
spect to monopoly elements, and with Professor Joe S.
Bain on special characteristics of oligopolistic markets.
He is profoundly indebted to both, not merely for general
suggestions but also for specific advice received after com-
pletion of the first draft of the manuscript. Valuable sug-
gestions were made also by members of a faculty seminar
at Stanford University which, under the chairmanship of
Professor Bernard F. Haley, discussed some of the prob-
lems with which this book is concerned. Finally, the au-
thor's thanks must be expressed for the clerical help pro-
vided by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research
of the University of California.

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