Marshall and complexity: a necessary balance between process and order

Katia Caldari

Cambridge Journal of Economics, 2015, vol. 39, issue 4, 1071-1085

Abstract: According to Alfred Marshall, economics is a complex science, which deals with a very compound matter. The concept of equilibrium is very widely referred to in his writings, not only as a tool to be used in the analytical apparatus, as is usually stressed, but also and more important as an element that characterises the evolutionary framework of his analysis. In the Marshallian investigation of economic and social matters, the term ‘equilibrium’ indicates an indispensable degree of order, whereas ‘evolution’ denotes a vital continuous process that characterises every economic and social body. The particular relation between equilibrium and evolution which characterises Marshall’s approach allows us to better understand the balanced interplay between order and process, two categories that, in Marshall, pervade every aspect of society considered as a highly complex body.

Date: 2015
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