Taming the incomputable, reconstructing the nonconstructive and deciding the undecidable in mathematical economics

  • K. Vela Velupillai

Research output: Contribution to a Journal (Peer & Non Peer)Articlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The emergence of non-constructivities in economics is entirely due to the unnecessary and inappropriate formalization of economics by means of 'classical' mathematics. I have made similar claims for the emergence of uncomputabilities and undecidabilities in economics in earlier writings. Here, on the other hand, I want to suggest a way of confronting uncomputabilities, and remedying non-constructivities, in economics, and turning them into a positive force for modeling, for example, endogenous growth, as suggested by Stefano Zambelli. 107,108 In between, a case is made for economics to take seriously the kind of mathematical methodology fostered by Feynman and Dirac, in particular the way they developed the path integral and the δ-function, respectively. A sketch of a "research program" in mathematical economics, analogous to the way Gödel thought incompleteness and its perplexities should be interpreted and resolved, is also outlined, albeit briefly, in the concluding section.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)5-51
Number of pages47
JournalNew Mathematics and Natural Computation
Volume8
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2012
Externally publishedYes

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 4 - Quality Education
    SDG 4 Quality Education
  2. SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
    SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

Keywords

  • Busy Beaver functions
  • computability
  • computable economics
  • Constructive mathematics
  • mathematical economics

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