Futures pricing relationships predate formal finance theory

Evidence

The theoretical value of a future was not a “discovery” of finance theory; the analogous relationship between the value of a future, the price of the underlying asset, interest rates, and storage costs had long been understood by participants in commodity futures markets. The relationship between futures prices and index levels was, nevertheless, a relatively strict mathematical relationship-a “theorem,” so to speak. — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 779

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Dividend discount pricing theory predates Graham and Dodd’s canonical statement. — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 1428