----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- I suggest that the starting point for a study of the history of the concept of dynamic, as the deputy minister wishes to describe it, is J. B. Clark's THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH, the early chapters. Clark writes, in essence, that the model of static economy helps us frame the economic problem by giving us a grand vision of the market system in which individuals act in roles and perform functions. This prepares us for the study of the dynamic economy, which is largely unexplored. At a later time, Ludwig von Mises (HUMAN ACTION, chapter 14) drew on Clark's distinction to present a conception of the study of the dynamic economy as the study of entrepreneurial profit and loss. Yes, as Roy Weintraub suggests, there were developments in the mathematical approach to the study of the market economy which came to associate the term "dynamic" with equations that had t subscripts. But unless one takes mathematical economics as the prototype for economics in general, I think that it would be wise to begin with the philosophical or epistemological roots that are in Clark. It may well be that the undergraduate students with whom the deputy minister wish to communicate have a more imaginative mind than the technicians. Some of the ideas behind my remarks are contained in my paper "The Logical Concept of Equilibrium" at http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/barclay/212/subjecti/workpape/log_equi.htm Pat Gunning, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]