Abstract for: Jay Forrester's disruptive economics

A revolution in economics was probably never a conscious goal of Forrester’s work. Yet, his writings might have laid the foundation for it by visualizing the decision processes in firms, markets, countries and global economic institutions, as it exists in an operational setting instead of being defined by the abstract postulates of mainstream economics. This operational perspective allows his models to be tied to policies that influence everyday decisions to avoid problematic futures. When viewed in the context of the working of the market, economic development, management of common property resources and control of growth and recession, which are important application areas of economics, Forrester’s writings provide deep insights that not only tie well to reality, but can also be used for creating effective policies for managing firms, regions and countries. I discuss in this paper Forrester’s alternative models that address a wide range of economics policy agendas, which set the stage for a disruptive change in the practice of economics.