Economic Science: From the Ideal Gas Law Economy to Piketty and Beyond

Song, Edward (2014): Economic Science: From the Ideal Gas Law Economy to Piketty and Beyond.

Abstract

I start with income and wealth inequality data from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Thomas Piketty, and propose approaches taken from science (for example, behavioral evolution theory,) that might be useful in explaining the data and forecasting future economic events. Using a modified production function developed by Robert Solow, I also explore redistributive effects of income when biological restrictions lead to minimum expenditure requirements and satiation conditions. I conclude that redistributing income from the wealthy to the poor can have counter-cyclical effects in recessions. Moreover, redistribution in the form of human capital can have particularly large positive economic growth effects. Finally, I explain how financial crisis may lead to large economic downturns by proposing a model where productive capital formation is dependent on debt financing.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Macroeconomics, Behavioral Macroeconomics, Econophysics.
• Subjects: E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E2 - Consumption, Saving, Production, Investment, Labor Markets, and Informal Economy > E21 - Consumption ; Saving ; Wealth; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E2 - Consumption, Saving, Production, Investment, Labor Markets, and Informal Economy > E22 - Investment ; Capital ; Intangible Capital ; Capacity; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E2 - Consumption, Saving, Production, Investment, Labor Markets, and Informal Economy > E23 - Production; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E2 - Consumption, Saving, Production, Investment, Labor Markets, and Informal Economy > E27 - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E3 - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E3 - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles > E32 - Business Fluctuations ; Cycles; Y - Miscellaneous Categories > Y9 - Other > Y90 - Other

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