[OPE-L] CFP, Probabilistic Political Economy

[Jerry Levy <Gerald_A_Levy@xxxxxxx>]

The CFP is attached.  I re-edited it so that it was more readable
(in the form that Ian sent  to me it was just  eight very long lines).

The web site is:
http://www.probabilisticpoliticaleconomy.net

In solidarity, Jerry


----- Original Message -----
From: "Ian Wright" <wrighti@xxxxxxx>
To: "Jerry Levy" <gerald_a_levy@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 12:34 AM
Subject: a call for papers for OPE-L


> Hi Jerry
>
> Could you post this call-for-papers to the OPE-L list? I think it
> should be of interest to people. Thanks for your help,
>
> -Ian.
>




Probabilistic Political Economy: 

"Laws of Chaos" in the 21st Century

A conference to celebrate 25 years since the publication of 
Farjoun & Machover's book

www.probabilisticpoliticaleconomy.net

July 14 -- 17, 2008

Kingston University, UK

- Call for papers

The publication in 1983 of "Laws of Chaos, A Probabilistic Approach 
toPolitical Economy" by Emmanuel Farjoun and Moshe 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. They rejected the adequacy of deterministic
models to capture essential features of a dynamic and distributed
market economy, which they viewed as a complex system characterised 
by a huge number of degrees of freedom. Employing probabilistic arguments, 
Farjoun and Machover developed a broad model of the capitalist economy 
that, in contrast to deterministic approaches, had a more immediate 
connection to empirical reality and yielded important and theoretically 
distinct, macroeconomic conclusions, including probabilistic laws 
governing the relationship between price and labour-content, the 
distribution of the profit rate, and the tendency of labour productivity 
to increase. 

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: 

(i) "Laws of Chaos", a reflection on the reception and subsequent impact 
of Farjoun and Machover's book, 

(ii) "Theory and methods", an exploration of the concept of statistical 
equilibrium in political economy, 

(iii) "Models and empirical reality",investigations of specific 
non-deterministic, economic models and
their relationship to empirical data, and 

(iv) "Disequilibrium and out-of-equilibrium dynamics", examining the 
disequilibrium properties and empirical plausibility of non-deterministic models of
capitalism. Our aim is to reflect on the past and stimulate the next 25 years of 
the research programme of probabilistic political economy.

- Important Dates

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.

- Conference Themes We invite papers on:

1. Laws of Chaos    

* The genesis and reception of "Laws of Chaos".

* Critiques of "Laws of Chaos".    

* The contribution of "Laws of Chaos" to value theory and the transformation problem.

* The subsequent development of probabilistic methods in political economy, including 
the relation of "Laws of Chaos" to wider developments in economics, such as the 
emergence of econophysics.

2. Theory and methods - statistical equilibrium in economics

* The concept of a statistical equilibrium in economic systems.

* Deterministic vs. probabilistic models.* Probabilistic ideas in Marx and Engels, and after.


* Modelling techniques and formalisms, such as statistical mechanics,  maximum entropy, 
thermodynamics, diffusion equations and random walks etc.

* Computational modelling and zero-intelligence agents.

3. Models and empirical reality

* The empirical relation between price and labour-content.

* The rate of profit as a random variable.

* The capitalist space economy, and other geographical themes.

* The social architecture of capitalism, including broad macroeconomic models of income 
distribution, firm growth, business cycles, the emergence of economic classes, etc.

4. Disequilibrium and out-of-equilibrium dynamics. Examining the disequilibrium 
properties and empirical plausibility of non-deterministic models of capitalism.

* Applications of complexity theory, 'on the edge of chaos', to non-deterministic models.

* Utility of simulation and other computationally intensive approaches to characterize 
out-of-equilibrium dynamics.

* Non-deterministic evolutionary models of capitalist societal dynamics.

* Agent-based models of the capitalist economy. 

All accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings. Our intention is 
to publish a selection of the bestpapers in book form.

- Keynote speakers

Emmanuel Farjoun, Professor of Mathematics, Einstein Institute of Mathematics, The 
Hebrew University of Jerualem, Israel.

Moshe Machover, Professor of Philosophy, King's College London, UK.


- Invited speakers

Victor Yakovenko, Professor of Physics, University of Maryland, US

David Rigby, Professor of Geography, UCLA, US.

Paul Plummer, Reader in Spatial Modelling, School of Geographical Sciences, 
University of Bristol, UK.

Andrew Kliman, Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Pace University, US.

Steve Keen, Associate Professor of Economics and Finance, University of Western Sydney, 
Australia.

Hardy Hanappi, Jean Monnet Professor of Political Economy of European Integration, 
Technical University of Vienna, Austria

Mauro Gallegati, Professor of Economics, University of Ancona, Italy

Alan Freeman, Visiting Lecturer in Economics, School of Business and the Humanities, 
University of Greenwich, UK

Jurgen Essletzbichler, Lecturer, Department of Geography, UCL, UK.

Allin Cottrell, Professor of Economics, Wake Forest University, US.

Paul Cockshott, Reader in Computer Science, Department of Computer Science, University 
of Glasgow, UK.  


- Paper proposals

Please submit paper proposals before 12th Nov 2007. Acceptance notices
will be sent by 3rd Dec 2007.

Please submit an abstract of up to 500 words using 
the online form at
<http://fass.kingston.ac.uk/conferences/apply/index.shtml>. When
submitting a proposal please remember to select the conference
"Probabilistic Political Economy" from the drop-down menu in section

2. Also indicate under which conference theme you wish it to bereviewed in the 
final message box.

- Final abstracts

For accepted proposals submit an abstract by 14th Jan 2008.

- Final papers

For accepted proposals submit the final paper by 14th April 2008.

Registration

Participants without paper presentations are welcome. 

For registration and details on venue and accommodation please visit
www.probabilisticpoliticaleconomy.net 

- Organising committee

Julian Wells, Senior Lecturer in Economics at Kingston University, UK.

Eric Sheppard, Professor of Economic Geography, University of Minnesota, USA.

Ian Wright, Research Student, Open University, UK.  

- Relevant literature 

Laws of Chaos, a Probabilistic Approach to Political 
Economy. Emmanuel Farjoun and Moshe Machover. Verso, London, 1983. 
(Available in digital format from www.probabilisticpoliticaleconomy.net).

Ricardo Marx Sraffa -- the Langston Memorial Volume. Edited by Ernest 
Mandel and Alan Freeman, Verso, London, 1984.  

A Statistical Equilibrium Theory of Markets. Duncan K. Foley. Journal
of Economic Theory 62(2), 321--345, 1994.

Statistical mechanics of money. A. Dragulescu and V. M. Yakovenko. The
European Physical Journal B, 17:723--729, 2000.

<www.probabilisticpoliticaleconomy.net>