Editing Edgeworth's limit theorem (section)

== The core of an economy ==
{{Main|Core (game theory)}}
The core of an economy is a concept from cooperative [[game theory]] defined as the [[Set (mathematics)|set]] of [[Feasible region|feasible]] allocations in an economy that cannot be improved upon by subset of the set of the economy's consumers (a coalition). For [[general equilibrium]] economies typically the core is non-empty (there is at least one feasible allocation) but also "large" in the sense that there may be a continuum of feasible allocations that satisfy the requirements. The conjecture basically states that if the number of agents is also "large" then the only allocations in the core are precisely what a [[Competition (economics)|competitive market]] would produce. As such, the conjecture is seen as providing some game-theoretic foundations for the usual assumption in [[general equilibrium theory]] of price taking agents. In particular, it means that in a "large" economy people act as if they were price takers, even though theoretically they have all the power to set prices and renegotiate their trades. Hence, the fictitious [[Walrasian auctioneer]] of general equilibrium, while strictly speaking completely unrealistic, can be seen as a "short-cut" to getting the right answer.