Evolutionary alternatives to equilibrium frameworks in economics education

Abstract

To have multiple perspectives for analyzing an economy is valuable in and of itself. For the complex system economy, they offer ways for researchers and students alike for developing a more nuanced understanding of socio-economic structures than the economics mainstream framework can accommodate. They allow us to conceptualize economic activity in different ways and show different aspects of economic activities. They can help develop policy frameworks that may permit a more versatile, and also more targeted, set of options for influencing economic processes. They can support the development of differing positions when we consider how to evaluate economic processes and the output range which they produce. For students, learning different perspectives for thinking about how an economy functions, about the role of economic activity and how it is embedded in a physical and social environment can offer numerous advantages over an instruction that is solely focused on one specific perspective and its positive and normative positions. Evolutionary perspectives on economic education and analyses provide an analytical framework that can accommodate the above aspects.