Catallactics is the praxeological theory of the way the market economy reaches exchange ratios and prices. Praxeology is the science of human action. ... A market economy (aka free market economy and free enterprise economy) is an economic system in which the production and distribution of goods and services takes place through the mechanism of free markets guided by a free price system rather than by the state in a planned economy. ... In economics and business, the price is the assigned numerical monetary value of a good, service or asset. ...

It aims to analyse all actions based on monetary calculation and trace the formation of prices back to the point where an economic actor makes his or her choices. It explains market prices as they are and not as they should be. The laws of catallactics are not value judgments, but aim to be exact, objective and of universal validity. Market price is an economic concept with commonplace familiarity; it is the price that a good or service is offered at, or will fetch, in the marketplace; it is of interest mainly in the study of microeconomics. ... Bold text A value judgment is a judgment of the rightness or wrongness of something based on a particular set of values or on a particular value system. ...

It was first used extensively by the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (September 29, 1881 - October 10, 1973), was a notable economist and social philosopher. ...

Friedrich Hayek used the term Catallaxy to describe a market economy. He was unhappy with the usage of the word "economy", feeling that the Greek root of the word - which translates as "household management" - implied that economic agents in a market economy possessed shared goals. Hayek derived the word Catallaxy from the Greek verb "katallassein" (or "katallattein") which meant not only "to exchange" but also "to admit in the community" and "to change from enemy into friend" (F.A. von Hayek, Law legislation and Liberty, Vol 2, 1976, pp. 108-109). Friedrich Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek (May 8, 1899 in Vienna – March 23, 1992 in Freiburg) was an Austrian economist and political philosopher, noted for his defense of liberal democracy and free-market capitalism against socialist and collectivist thought in the mid-20th century. ... A market economy (aka free market economy and free enterprise economy) is an economic system in which the production and distribution of goods and services takes place through the mechanism of free markets guided by a free price system rather than by the state in a planned economy. ...