1. Introduction
The neoclassical era in economics has ended and has been replaced by an unnamed era.1
We believe what best characterizes the new era is its acceptance that the economy is
complex, and thus that it might be called the complexity era. The complexity era has not
arrived through a revolution. Instead, it has evolved out of the many strains of
neoclassical work, along with work done by less orthodox mainstream and heterodox
economists. It is only in its beginning stages, but it is, in our view, the wave of the future.
In this article, we provide our sense of the work that is forming the foundation of the
complexity era, and how that work will likely change the way in which we understand
economic phenomena and the economics profession.
2. The Future of Economics
Imagine for a moment that one were looking at the economics profession in England in
1890. One would say that Alfred Marshall with his blend of historical and analytical
economics was the economics of the future; Walras’s and Edgeworth’s more
mathematical approach would be considered minor players. Now fast forward to the
1930s—Marshall is seen as a minor player, while Walras’s and Edgeworth’s
mathematical approach has become the foundation for Samuelson’s cutting edge
economics. Now imagine economics in 2050. Much of what is currently done in
1 This argument was developed in our article “The Changing Face of Mainstream Economics,” Review of
Political Economy, Volume 16, Number 4, 485-499, October 2004b, and in our book The Changing Face
of Economics: Conversations with Cutting Edge Economists (University of Michigan, 2004a). This article
is based on material from our new book, J.B. Rosser, Jr., et al., European Economics at a Crossroads
(Edward Elgar Press, 2010).