Guidance and Optimal Control of Free-Market Economies: A New Interpretation

Date

1972-01

Authors

Burmeister, Edwin
Dobell, Rod

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

The lnstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.

Abstract

The biological and social sciences offer many examples of complex systems which were not consciously designed or engineered but which have evolved over long periods from more primitive forms. Built-in mechanisms for control or guidance of such systems may be elaborate but somewhat imperfect or indirect. Two primary propositions are discussed. The first is that the evolution of the complex markets basic in western economies has realized an institutional structure through which decentralized guidance of the economy can be implemented. The second is that with such market structures it may be possible to design economic policies which realize sufficient control of the economic system without direct intervention in the optimizing decisions of individual elements in the system. The paper is primarily tutorial and surveys the relevant technical literature on models of economic growth. However some new results and a new interpretation of known results are presented.

Description

(c) 1972 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other users, including reprinting/ republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted components of this work in other works.

Keywords

economic policy, economic growth, optimal control theory, policy instruments

Citation

Burmeister, Edwin, and A. Rodney Dobell. "Guidance and Optimal Control of Free-Market Economies: A New Interpretation." IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics SMC-2.1 (1972): 9-15.