Royal Society/Confederation of British Industry Lecture, 1983: Control Engineering and Economic Modelling: A Collaboration Aimed at Improving Control of the National Economy
Abstract
Control engineering techniques, founded on a well structured set of theoretical disciplines, have in recent years claimed a striking level of success in providing control systems for the most diverse and complex dynamical systems, enabling them to function in an optimal manner, either by reducing overall costs or by improving the quality of the end product. A national economy is just such a dynamical system, so one could expect that the application of control system theory would be equally relevant. This is indeed the case, but there are formidable difficulties to overcome; sheer system complexity is one, and achieving a consensus on what is to be regarded as `optimal' is another. The lecture discusses various aspects of economic modelling and the ways in which control techniques can be brought to bear on the behaviour of the economy. Extensive simulations using a number of models of the U.K. economy have indicated the benefits that might ensue under a variety of control strategies.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series A
- Pub Date:
- December 1983
- DOI:
- 10.1098/rspa.1983.0129
- Bibcode:
- 1983RSPSA.390..221W