1st Edition

Computable, Constructive and Behavioural Economic Dynamics Essays in Honour of Kumaraswamy (Vela) Velupillai

Edited By Stefano Zambelli Copyright 2010
    560 Pages 20 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The book contains thirty original articles dealing with important aspects of theoretical as well as applied economic theory. While the principal focus is on: the computational and algorithmic nature of economic dynamics; individual as well as collective decision process and rational behavior, some contributions emphasize also the importance of classical recursion theory and constructive mathematics for dynamical systems, business cycles theories, growth theories, and others are in the area of history of thought, methodology and behavioural economics. The contributors range from Nobel Laureates to the promising new generation of innovative thinkers.

    This volume is also a Festschrift in honour of Professor Kumaraswamy Vela Velupillai, the founder of Computable Economics, a growing field of research where important results stemming from classical recursion theory and constructive mathematics are applied to economic theory. The aim and hope is to provide new tools for economic modelling.

    This book will be of particular appeal to postgraduate students and scholars in one or more of the following fields: computable economics, business cycles, macroeconomics, growth theories, methodology, behavioural economics, financial economics, experimental and agent based economics. It might be also of importance to those interested on the general theme of algorithmic foundations for social sciences.

    Prelude 1. Velupillai’s Constructive and Computable Economics, Undecidable Dynamics and Algorithmic Social Sciences Stefano Zambelli 2. From an admirer and a friend Robert W. Clower  Allegro: Dynamical Systems, Business Cycles and Macroeconomics 3. The Richard Goodwin circle at Harvard (1938-1950) Paul Samuelson 4. Not growth, not cycles, but something in-between Robert Solow 5. The nonlinear path of macroeconomic dynamics Axel Leijonhufvud  Crescendo: Computable Economics  6. The information economy Gregory Chaitin 7. Hypotheses that imply the independence of P = NP from strong axiomatic systems N. C. A. da Costa and F. A. Doria 8. Universal Models Jorma Rissanen 9. Model description length priors in the urn problem Duncan Foley  Allegro ma non troppo: Constructivity, Rationality and Complexity in Economic Theory 10. The honeybee as teacher John McCall 11. Constructivist logic and emergent evolution in economic complexity Barkley Rosser 12. Remarks on numerical systems, algorithms and economic theory Richard Day 13. An experiment on equilibrium selection: The relative unimportance of context Håkan J. Holm 14. The complexity of social choice Kislaya Prasad  Andante: History of Thought and Methodology 15. Varieties of internal critique Tony Lawson 16. Rational economic man: A centrepiece in social science? Carsten Heyn-Johnsen 17. Resisting the sirens of realism in economic methodolody: A Socratic odyssey Thomas A. Boylan & Paschal F. O’Gorman 18. Who, in Scandinavian economic theoretic literature, picked up major threads fromWicksell’s writings? Björn Thalberg  Moderato ma non troppo: Capital, viability and growth 19. The Accumulation of Capital over 50 years on G.C. Harcourt & Prue Kerr 20. The means of subsistence and the notion of ‘viability’ in Sraffa’s surplus approach Guglielmo Chiodi 21. A disequilibrium growth cycle model with differential savings Serena Sordi Allegretto: Markets and Their Behaviours 22. Evolution of FX Markets and New Financial Economics Joseph L. McCauley 23. Elasticity puzzle: An inquiry into micro-macro relations Shu-Heng Chen, Ya-Chi Huang & Jen-Fu Wang 24. Bubbles and crashes: A a cyborg approach Ralph Abraham, Todd Feldman and Daniel Friedman 25. Is there gold in the Taylor’s Rule? A note on the treasure hunt  Francesco Luna 26. The economics of Keynes in an almost stock-flow consistent agent-based setting Charlotte Bruun 27. Minsky’s ‘financial instability hypothesis’: The not-too-Keynesian optimism of a financial Cassandra Elisabetta De Antoni 28. Organizational capabilities and industry dynamics: A computational model Marco Corsino, Roberto Gabriele and Enrico Zaninotto  Finale 29. The most difficult questions: A brief reflection inspired by K. Vela Velupillai’s contributions in computable economics, evolution and complexity Cassey Lee 30. A homage to my father Viveka Velupillai

    Biography

    Stefano Zambelli is Professor of Political Economy in the Department of Economics at University of Trento, Italy.