Economics, complexity, and nonequilibrium

With the coming of computation and of new mathematical tools, it has become possible to widen economics beyond equilibria. What would it mean to do nonequilibrium economics? And how could we apply this to systems such as the environment that are not in equilibrium? Prof Arthur will discuss the idea of a nonequilibrium economics, and how it fits with agent-based modeling and with ideas from complexity.

About W. Brian Arthur

W. Brian Arthur is best known for his early theoretical work on increasing returns in the economy and their role in locking markets in to the domination of one or two players. He is also one of the pioneers of the science of complexity—the science of how patterns and structures self-organize.

Arthur has been Morrison Professor of Economics and Population Studies at Stanford, and Citibank Professor at the Santa Fe Institute. He is one of the founders of the Santa Fe Institute, and served many years on its Science Board and Board of Trustees. He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society. Among his honors are the Lagrange Prize in Complexity Science, the Schumpeter Prize in Economics, and two honorary doctorates. He is the author of Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy (1994), The Nature of Technology (2009), and Complexity and the Economy (2014).