Chaotic Economic Dynamics  (English, Hardcover, Goodwin R. M.)

The new science of chaos was discovered in the analysis of weather. According to the author, economics is equally unpredictable. In this book, the way chaos may be used for economicc analysis is explored. The author applies the new insights of chaotic dynamics to economics. Though the conception of chaos arose in abstract mathematics, it has already proved very fruitful in a number of applied sciences. Since it sets out to demonstrate that in a situation of total cause and effect, behaviour can be eratic and unpredictable, it is likely to be of importance for understanding society. Given the unpredictable behaviour of economics, this new discipline promises much enlightenment. It has always been assumed that the highly irregular behaviour of economic time series were the consequence of extra-economic disturbance such as political decisions, trade unions, the weather and foreign trade. Now it has become clear that there are two, not one, explanations of this confusing behaviour.