ABSTRACT
The interest in disequilibrium microeconomics stems mostly from the appreciation of Paul Samuelson's 'Correspondence Principle between comparative statics and dynamics'. The most characteristic feature of the work of our generation of economists is probably the general endeavour to apply the methods and results of the pure theory of equilibrium to the elucidation of complicated 'dynamic' phenomena. There are many techniques of analysis for dealing with the control problem and the related complexities of mapping paths to scalar points. The 'calculus of variation', 'optimal control theory' and 'dynamic programming' are the most familiar to economists. The promotion of techniques of analysis such as optimal control theory and dynamic programming unfortunately leads us to think about our problems of decision-making over time in a way that the convenience of mathematical techniques takes precedence over the accuracy of the representation of any problem at issue. The mechanical engineering approach of optimal control theory or dynamic programming is too much concerned with successful optimization.
