Social Science and Policy Studies

Michael J. Radzicki

Associate Professor

Department: Social Science & Policy Studies
Professional Page
Office: Atwater Kent Laboratories, 130
Phone: +1-508-831-5767
Fax: +1-508-831-5896
mjradz@wpi.edu

Educational Background

Research & Teaching Interests

Macroeconomics; development economics; sustainable economic development; system dynamics computer simulation modeling; economic methodology;

Research

My research is primarily aimed at combining Post Keynesian economics and institutional economics with system dynamics computer simulation modeling and/or with agent-based computer simulation modeling to create a more powerful form of heterodox economics. Heterodox economists object to many of the tenets of orthodox economics and base their analyses on the following propositions:

  1. Economic systems are path dependent historical processes that evolve over historical, rather than logical, time.
  2. Economic systems are fundamentally uncertain and, as such, economic agents must make their crucial (non-optimal) decisions on the basis of expectations and via the use of bounded rational coping mechanisms.
  3. Money is non-neutral in real economic systems and its role must be taken into account when studying modern economic systems and crafting economic policies.
  4. Economic and political institutions play a significant role in shaping economic events.
  5. The distribution of income and the role of economic power must be taken into account when studying economic systems and crafting economic policies.
  6. Real capital is non-malleable, embodies historical decisions, and is conceptually distinct from financial capital.
  7. Income effects are more dominant than substitution effects in creating and solving economic problems.
  8. Say's law does not hold in advanced market economies and thus economic instability and involuntary unemployment are "normal" characteristics of such systems.
  9. The most important economic principle is that of "circular and cumulative causation."
  10. Economic problems must be examined holistically via a systems approach.
  11. Macroeconomic behavior emerges from the microstructure of the economy.

I am currently engaged in two main research projects. The first is the creation of a Post Keynesian-Institutional-System Dynamics macroeconomics model that will be used to study, among other things, the future of the euro. The second is the writing of a book on the history of economic thought via system dynamics. This book will present a collection of well-known economic models, from Adam Smith to the present day Post Keynesian and institutional economists, that have been translated into a system dynamics format. Whenever possible, the notation and nomenclature of the models will be kept the same so that the reader can clearly see the evolution of the ideas of some of the great economic thinkers from the last three centuries.

In addition to these projects, I am also interested in using agent-based computer simulation modeling to study the dynamics of human expectation formation, especially as it relates to the decision to invest in new plant and equipment.

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