Economic Evolution and Equilibrium: Bridging the Gap

· Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems Book 591 · Springer Science & Business Media
Ebook
272
Pages
Ratings and reviews aren’t verified  Learn More

About this ebook

theory,whichformalizesa dynamiceconomicsystemasa systemofdi?erence, or di?erential, equations. There equilibria mean ‘equilibrium trajectories’ of the whole evolution that, in a certain sense, are optimal. A particularly un- tisfactory feature of this conceptualization of an equilibrium, however, is the factthattheintertemporaloptimizingapproachcompletelypredeterminesthe whole future of the economic system. This “closed loop” approach gives rise to the common reproach that economic theory is predominantly concerned with the question of ‘how the economic system ought to behave’ rather than with the question of ‘how does it behave actually’. This is the point at which the new branch of evolutionary economics has made its entrance. In contrast to growth or business cycle theory, evolutionary economics perceives the evolution of the economic system as essentially “open” to true novelties that are unforeseeable by their very nature. This view clearly makes obsolete any conception of equilibrium that resorts to the idea of a ?nal state of rest, or to the idea of an intertemporally optimizing trajectory which is prespeci?ed ab initio by a system of di?erential equations and initial con- tions. To be sure, there have been attempts to reconceptualize the notion of equilibrium from the evolutionary viewpoint. However, these proposals also appear, in one way or another, to hinge on the ideas of rest. This parti- larly applies to the branch of nonlinear dynamics and deterministic chaotic motion.

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.