The economic dynamics: The teaching and learning of economic science from the perspective of systems dynamic

Abstract

The teaching of economic science must respond both to the training of pro-fessional economists and to a dynamic approach to the economic topics taught and learned . Traditionally, classical mathematical analysis has been the formal instrument to address the complexity of economic phenomena . However, the very complex nature of economic phenomena requires different and comple-mentary approaches for a better apprehension of economic events, given their non-linearities, their circular behavior, their temporal lags and their emerging characteristics . A superficial review of the evolution of economic thought leads us to a very relevant conclusion: economists, over time, have not been influenced by systemic thinking when addressing the study of economic events, whether in the context of microeconomics as of the macroeconomics . The ma-turity reached by systemic science, in general, has been permeating the ideas of economists to the point of observing, in recent decades, more systemic concerns for the analysis of economic problems. Teachers and students of economic science will teach better and learn efficiently when grounding the teaching-learning processes in the systemic economy. Systemic thinking, as a philosophy of learning, as well as the dynamics of systems, as an instrument that facilitates practical implementation and dynamic simulation of behaviors, can provide extremely useful elements to improve the training of economists in locks based on the systemic economy.