I was wondering whether any of you has read ‘An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change’ by Nelson and Winter, or read something related to a relatively new approach to economics called ‘evolutionary economics’. They take some ideas from some Austrians, biology and some more fields of thought, and try to make dynamic models taking into account the role of time, knowledge, learning, innovation, technology…
I would like to know your views. I think there are some new interesting approaches in economics that Austrians should take a look and might get interested in
I think it should be approached cautiously. Here is a similar book reviewed. Whilst similarities between biological mechanisms and the market exist and no doubt evolutionary accounts of market phenomena can be given, care should be taken not to view this as a substitute for sound theory. That said, the book Bionomics is also an interesting read.
Perhaps a look at Herbert Spencer’s works would prove worthwhile ? He was arguably the leading libertarian of 19th century England and had a comprehensive theory of social evolution, partly based on biology.