posted on 2024-07-13, 01:18authored byJulie Gerstman, Carol Barry
In the eighteenth century, economics was established as a science which assumed economic reality could be conceptualized as formulating universal laws (de Cabo, Fernandez and Jaramillo). This proposition has since underpinned the widespread use of deterministic general equilibrium models to predict the impact of shocks (changes) on markets and the economy as a whole. The inability of economics to solve societal problems and to anticipate international crises, and widespread criticism by eminent academics and practicing economists, explains why it is necessary to consider a change in approach to teaching economics (Robinson (a), Brockway). The complex adaptive system (CAS) model addresses many issues raised by critics of the traditional approach to teaching economics. The CAS views the economy as a complex, interactive and dynamic system, made up of adaptive producers and consumers whose behaviour can be analyzed as a series of interactive responses to a change in circumstances. This paper sets out to explore the meaning and appropriateness of teaching economics as a CAS in an attempt to improve anticipating realistic sources of disruption and their likely interactive results.
History
Available versions
PDF (Published version)
ISSN
1447-9494
Conference name
11th International Literacy and Education Research Network Conference on Learning, Havana, Cuba, 27-30 June 2004