The Epistemology of Simulation, Computation and dynamics in Economics

Computation and Simulation have always played a role in economics - whether it be pure economic theory or any variant of applied, especially policy oriented, macro and micro economics or what has increasingly come to be called empirical economics. Computations and Simulations are also intrinsically dynamic. This triptych is given natural foundations, mainly as a result of developments in the mathematics underpinnings of the tremendous developments in the potentials of computing, especially using digital technology. A running theme in this essay is the recognition that, increasingly, the development of economic theory seems to go hand in hand with advances in the theory and practice of computing, which is, in turn, a catalyst for the move away from too much reliance on any kind of mathematics for the formalisation of economic entities that is inconsistent with the mathematical, methodological and epistemological foundations of the digital computer.