Values, prices and natural liberty: on the dual role of prices in the history of economic analysis

Natural liberty is a powerful idea of social order. However, a tension has always existed between its reality and social values. Here, I try to identify where the fault line may lie between an order that fulfils social expectation and one that does not. I claim that throughout history, this fault line had been manifested in the distinction drawn between the concepts of price and value. The first emerges in markets and the second reflects social expectations. Juxtaposing the two reveals either harmony or dissonance between natural liberty and social expectations. Convergence then is a necessary condition for social validity.