ABSTRACT
An instructive way to understand what we mean by out-of-equilibrium dynamics, and what kind of modeling it implies, is to compare it with the interpretation of economic theory as made explicit, e.g. in the real business cycle analysis. According to this view, the theory is reckoned to provide: ‘an explicit set of instructions for building . . . a mechanical imitation system..to answer a question’ (Kydland and Prescott 1996, p. 72).
