Mercados y Bienestar. Ensayos en memoria de Homero Cuevas

Cuevas' work is very extensive. This book barely touches on some of the aspects he studied. One of his passions was the solution to the problem of transforming values into prices (Cuevas, I984a, 1986a). He was also concerned with understanding issues such as the relevance of the Sraffian standard commodity (Cuevas, 1984b, 1985),1 the price system, income and the functioning of markets (Cuevas, 1980, 1986a, 1986c, 1995, I999, 2000a , 2001a, 2003a, 2007a), the substitution of techniques (Cuevas, 1994, 2000a), collective choice (Cuevas, 1998), the family (Cuevas, 2000b), economic policy, growth and employment (Cuevas, 1971 , 2003b), coffee production (Cuevas, 1990), the implications of the autonomy of the central bank (Cuevas, 2001d), human capital (Cuevas, 1996), the industry (Cuevas, 1986b), entrepreneurs (Cuevas, 2006, 2007b), the relationship between law and economics (Cuevas, 2002a), the teaching of economics (Cuevas, 1993, 2001b, 2002b) and international trade (Cuevas, 2001f, 2011, 2015).

 This diversity of topics is the best expression of Cuevas' comprehensive view of economic theory. In the discussion on the transformation of values into prices he immodestly described his solution as the "correct transformation." and he boasted because he had successfully taken on the challenge posed by Engels more than a century ago, after Marx's death and before the final edition of the third volume of Capital. In those days, Engels invited economists to anticipate the solution to the problem of transformation that would be found in the third volume2. The interpretations continue to be diverse, and the debate that does not lose relevance has moments of greater intensity. The underlying theoretical concern is fundamental. It is about understanding the function of money as a measure of value, a concern that was already explicit in the characterization of currency proposed by Aristotle. Money has three functions: measure of value, medium of exchange and instrument for hoarding.