Online Library of Liberty - The Tradition of Spontaneous Order: A Bibliographical Essay by Norman Barry (oll.libertyfund.org)
- Highlight Loc. 571-77 | Added on Thursday, January 12, 2012, 08:33 AM
This theory, that there is a tendency to equilibrium in a decentralized exchange system is of course an empirical theory, which may be falsified. It is logically possible that there may be such endogenous 'shocks' to the system that the plans of the participants may not harmonize. Indeed, there are extreme 'subjectivists' who do not merely reject the neoclassical orthodoxy concerning static equilibrium, but also suggest that, becauseof the divergence of 'expectations,' future profitable opportunities may not be exploited so that there is not even a tendency for the actions of economic agents to be co-ordinated. In the work of G.L.S. Shackle and Ludwig Lachmann there is the implication that the spontaneous emergence of an order may be only a chance phenomenon, rather than a theoretical property of an interdependent economic system.
