RadStats people may be interested to know that statistical mechanical insights and methods are attracting growing attention among some economists, both radical and not-so-radical, under the rubric of "econophysics" (the Wikipedia article on this provides useful further links).
I'm pleased to say that radical economists can claim to be in the vanguard here, in the persons of Emmanuel Farjoun and Moshe Machover and their book "Laws of Chaos" (Verso, 1983).
A conference to celebrate 25 years since the publication of Farjoun and Machover's book is to be held at Kingston University next year; an abbreviated version of the call for papers follows: a full version can be seen at
www.probabilisticpoliticaleconomy.net
Call for papers
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Probabilistic Political Economy: "Laws of Chaos" in the 21st Century 14-17 July 2008 Kingston University, UK
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The publication in 1983 of Laws of Chaos, A Probabilistic Approach to Political Economy by Emmanuel Farjoun and Moshé Machover was an event of genuine theoretical innovation in the field of political economy.
The book was a response to the impasse reached by the input-output method of representing an economy, in particular when applied to the theory of economic value. Farjoun and Machover's innovations include the systematic introduction of probabilistic modelling, statistical mechanics, and probabilistic laws to the field of political economy.
2008 is the 25th anniversary of the publication of Farjoun and Machover's book and the aim of the conference is to celebrate this event. In particular, the conference will concentrate on four main themes:
* Laws of Chaos, a reflection on the reception and subsequent impact of Farjoun and Machover's book;
* Theory and methods, an exploration of the concept of statistical equilibrium in political economy;
* Models and empirical reality, investigations of specific non-deterministic, economic models and their relationship to empirical data; and
* Disequilibrium and out-of-equilibrium dynamics, examinations of the disequilibrium properties and empirical plausibility of non-deterministic models of capitalism.
Important dates
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Deadline for paper proposals: 12th Nov 2007. (Acceptance notices will be sent by 3rd Dec 2007.)
Deadline for registration: 14th Jan 2008.
Deadline for final paper submissions: 14th April 2008.
Conference opens: 14th July 2008
Abstracts
--------
Abstracts of up to 500 words can be submitted using this online form:
fass.kingston.ac.uk/conferences/apply/index.shtml
Further reading
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Laws of Chaos, A Probabilistic Approach to Political Economy, Emmanuel Farjoun and Moshé Machover, Verso 1983.
[ an on-line version is available at www.probabilisticpoliticaleconomy.net ]
Keynote speakers
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Emmanuel Farjoun, Professor of Mathematics, Einstein Institute of Mathematics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, and Moshé Machover, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, King's College London, UK.
Invited speakers
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Victor Yakovenko, University of Maryland, US; David Rigby, UCLA, US; Paul Plummer, University of Bristol, UK; Andrew Kliman, Pace University, US; Steve Keen, University of Western Sydney, Australia; Hardy Hanappi, Technical University of Vienna, Austria; Mauro Gallegati, University of Ancona, Italy; Alan Freeman, University of Greenwich, UK; Jurgen Essletzbichler, UCL, UK; Allin Cottrell, Wake Forest University, US; Paul Cockshott, University of Glasgow, UK.
Organising committee
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Julian Wells, Kingston University, UK; Eric Sheppard, University of Minnesota, USA; Ian Wright, The Open University, UK.
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