Evolutionary Economics
Categories: Econ
The general view of economics posits a series of forces that eventually work toward equilibrium. Supply and demand. Unemployment and inflation.
In terms of scientific analogy, this view would resemble something like physics. You slide a box across the floor. Inertia propels it forward. Friction slows it down. Eventually, the box stops sliding at the point the two forces cancel each other out.
Evolutionary economics takes its cues from, well...evolution. Things are ever changing, but not in a particular direction. Outside conditions shape change (survival of the fittest, etc.) but there's never really a point where the change stops. The basic idea comes from Darwin's theory of evolution, as applied to economic systems.
Fittingly, the field of evolutionary economics (now considered a sub-genre of econ) has evolved over time. The seed is generally considered to have been planted by Thorstein Veblen, with fertilizer added by Joseph Schumpeter and Alfred Marshall. The main blossoming (don't worry, we're done with the metaphor now) came from Richard Nelson and Sidney Winter's 1982 book An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change. It was also the original title to Everybody Poops, but was changed at presstime.