Walrasian equilibrium behavior in nature

The interaction between land plants and mycorrhizal fungi (MF) forms perhaps the world’s most prevalent biological market. Most plants participate in such markets, in which MF collect nutrients from the soil and trade them with host plants in exchange for carbon. In a recent study, M. D. Whiteside et al. [Curr. Biol. 29, 2043–2050.e8 (2019)] conducted experiments that allowed them to quantify the behavior of arbuscular MF when trading phosphorus with their host roots. Their experimental techniques enabled the researchers to infer the quantities traded under multiple scenarios involving different amounts of phosphorus resources initially held by different MF patches. We use these observations to confirm a revealed preference hypothesis, which characterizes behavior in Walrasian equilibrium, a centerpiece of general economic equilibrium theory.

Unlocking the Mystery of the Origins of John von Neumann’s Growth Model

In his famous “A Model of General Economic Equilibrium,” von Neumann wrote that it was “obvious to what kind of theoretical models [his] assumptions correspond.” To date, however, his sources of economic insights about the functioning of the continuously growing price-economy that he modeled have remained a total mystery. Based on archival material, this mystery is solved in this account by making visible the specific influences from economics and mathematics that inspired him. I argue that von Neumann’s 1937 paper resulted from a deep engagement with economics as it was emerging at the beginning of the 1930s and that this happened as he was travelling and crossing national boundaries while bridging distinct branches of mathematics with different local perspectives in economics. His encounters with Jacob Marschak in Berlin, Nicolas Kaldor in Budapest, and Frank Graham in Princeton as well as his reading of Walras’s, Wicksell’s and Cassel’s work would be key. I also explain how he came to realize that there existed a formal analogy between systems of linear equations and inequalities with which he characterized (stationary and dynamic) economies and the minimax theorem for two-person zero-sum games that he had conceived and proved in 1928.

THE FUNCTION OF SOCIAL POLICY AND SOCIAL INCLUSION IN EXPLANING THE GENERAL ECONOMIC EQUILIBRIUM

The article substantiates the function of social policy as such, which reflects the actual social value – social inclusion. Thus, it draws attention to the differences between this approach and other approaches to the social function that have already been implemented in economic science. The content of social inclusion is considered from the perspective of its background (set of economic, technological, humanitarian, managerial reasons) and several main forms of manifestation. Participation of citizens of the country in the distribution and redistribution of national incomes, in labor / business activity, in public management of communities is considered as such forms of manifestation. The article presents the social function equation (DI) as a nonlinear relationship between output and income differentiation. The latter (income differentiation) has been interpreted as partially able to detect the level of inclusion. It has verified the assumptions about the possibility of presenting a social function through social inclusion, according to panel data of statistics of EU countries for the period 2014 – 2018. Herewith, the data on GDP per capita and Gini coefficient, Income share ratio have become the object of analysis. The social function has been implemented into the theoretical construction – model IS-LM-DI. The latter forms the theoretical basis for explaining the interaction of the three policies – financial, monetary and social – for the sake of moving toward a general equilibrium. A graphical interpretation of the model IS-LM-DI has been provided. The considered model generalizes two possible variants of combining stimulating actions of the financial and monetary authorities of the country with the actions of social regulators, which are aimed at overcoming exclusion, alienating, and respectively, at achieving social inclusion.

Between Berlin and Cambridge: classical conceptions of the general economic equilibrium in the late 1920s

This paper deals with some contributions to the debate on General Economic Equilibrium between the two world wars. Originating in Cambridge and Berlin, they differed from the Viennese contributions of the Walrasian perspective traditionally considered by the literature. They can be defined to represent the classical approach to general equilibrium. The authors considered are the Italian-born economist Piero Sraffa, the German mathematician Robert Remak and the Russian-born economist Wassily Leontief. The paper focuses in particular on the intellectual origins of their contributions in the Russian-German theoretical debate of the period 1890–1910 involving classical economists, Marx and Walras: these connections emerge clearly in the contributions of the German-Russian Mathematical School between the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries.

THE BALANCE PARADOX OF MANAGEMENT

Aim: There exists an inequilibrium between the available quantity of goods and the level of consumption resulting in local economic polarisations and asymmetric capital concentrations. Replacements of real money with derivative instruments cause strong perturbations on capital markets. Consumer preferences change towards the maximization of the utility of the used capital. The above observations are a basis for the hypothesis that managers, in general, prefer to maximize the momentum profit regardless of the risk of losing the stability of macroeconomic systems.Design/Research method: It is heuristic about the objective function of an organization based on observations, that there are two excluding tendencies in formulating goals: to maximize the profit (using all possible opportunities) and simultaneously to achieve stability in the long run (keeping the micro-macro balance).Conclusions/findings: Managements cause deviations from the micro-macro balance, and at the same time trying to keep this balance. This leads to the following paradox of management (the balance dilemma of management): Managers always try to maximize opportune profits, regardless of future benefits that may be derived from keeping the equilibrium. And conversely, rational long-term stability suggests postponing most opportunities and keeping external boundaries (e.g. realizing sustainable development). However, managers’ temporary preferences lead to an increasing number of unbalanced interactions between organizations and their surroundings, up to the critical point when some catastrophic economic processes may take place.Originality/value of the article: Original heuristics based on the observations of some micro-macro economic balance relations in business practice.Implications of the research: One more paradox in the theory of management have been presented. It is important for base statements of the theory of organizational bahaviors consistency and inferring would be more accurate.Key words: General economic equilibrium, rationally bounded decisions, paradox of management, micro/macro balance, management theory.JEL: L2, M21, D5, F41