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Vincent Portillo, a colleague, will join me in putting a new book together. We only have 10 paragraphs to show for our effort, but any comments will be very much appreciated. Getting an introduction down is important, not only for communicating with readers, but for sorting out our own ideas. Thanks. This book is an exploration of the complex and fascinating interactions between war, the economy, and economic thinking. Whether you realize it or not, a complex Matrix resulting from the interactions of war, economics, and economic thinking creates a powerful force field that affects almost everything you do. This force field, not unlike gravity, is both pervasive and invisible. However, the effects of the Matrix are unpredictable. In a world vulnerable to the possibility of serious destruction as the result of both military and economic miscalculations, taking account of this Matrix is imperative. The effects of the Matrix are far more complex than those of gravity. Obviously, an engineer designing an airplane must take into account the force of gravity to avoid future calamities. Complete command of the necessary scientific knowledge and care in the building of the plane is insufficient to guarantee future safety. The human interface creates an ever-present risk once pilots, mechanics, and air traffic controllers take over responsibilities for the plane. A far more intricate network of human behaviors interacting with the Matrix leads to pervasive uncertainty, making the challenges of responding to the Matrix are far more daunting than the straightforward responsibilities of those who are responsible for the plane's safety. The Matrix presents another dimension of complications. If a pilot flies into a mountain, the immediacy of the consequences makes interpretation of the event fairly simple. In the case of the Matrix, choices today may set off a chain of events that may have important consequences years or decades in the future. Looking back to identify a single -- or even a small set of events as the cause is very difficult. After all, events occurring in previous millennia still remain the subject of ongoing debates among historians. To make matters even more complex, the Matrix can cause contradictory outcomes. Here again, the human element comes into play. Any attempt at identifying causality comes up again the tendency to understand the sequence of events in light of pre-existing ideas or ideology. Consequently, one must exercise extreme caution in any attempt to manipulate the Matrix. Nonetheless, the risks of doing nothing are even more dangerous, considering the potential dangers or perhaps even likelihood of environmental, economic, or military disaster. Actions to prevent cataclysmic outcomes require great care, backed up with a relatively holistic perspective. Economics occupies a special place in this intricate Matrix with economics serving as a bridge between the other two principals of the Matrix: war and the economy. Almost unintentionally, in the seventeenth century, modern economics developed to a large extent in response to questions raised by the needs and the consequences of warfare. More at http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/first-stab-at-a-new-book-the-matrix-the-conjunction-of-war-economic-theory-and-the-economy/ -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 530 898 5321 fax 530 898 5901 http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
