[PEN-L:8781] punctuated equilibrium

[Jim Devine <jdevine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In Louis' description, Michael Perelman >compares economic history with
Stephen Jay Gould's concept of "punctuated equilibrium"--a brilliant
observation...<

Please correct me if I'm wrong: Gould's (and Eldredge's) conception is that
the process of evolution tends to slow down and even stop, so that the
process can only continue if there's some catastrophic shock to the system,
like a massive comet hitting the earth or something else that causes a mass
dying.

This concept seems a needed addition to biology, getting us away from the
assumption that evolution is always and everywhere a gradual process. But
it seems a lot like the neoclassical concept of comparative statics, where
the economy is seen as changing only due to exogenous shocks.

It seems to me that what economics needs is more a matter of
self-punctuating equilibrium, as when capitalist accumulation undermines
its own status quo, unleashing forces of rebellion and reaction.

Inquiring minds want to know...

Jim Devine jdevine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx &
http://clawww.lmu.edu/Faculty/JDevine/jdevine.html