Equilibrium

This international bestseller and “intellectual tour de force” (The Montreal Gazette) is both an attack on our weakness for ideologies and a manual for humanist action.

A leading scholar in the field presents post-1970s developments in the theory of general equilibrium, unified by the concept of equilibrium manifold. In The Equilibrium Manifold, noted economic scholar and major contributor to the theory of general equilibrium Yves Balasko argues that, contrary to what many textbooks want readers to believe, the study of the general equilibrium model did not end with the existence and welfare theorems of the 1950s. These developments, which characterize the modern phase of the theory of general equilibrium, led to what Balasko calls the postmodern phase, marked by the reintroduction of differentiability assumptions and the application of the methods of differential topology to the study of the equilibrium equation. Balasko's rigorous study demonstrates the central role played by the equilibrium manifold in understanding the properties of the Arrow-Debreu model and its extensions. Balasko argues that the tools of differential topology articulated around the concept of equilibrium manifold offer powerful methods for studying economically important issues, from existence and uniqueness to business cycles and economic fluctuations. After an examination of the theory of general equilibrium's evolution in the hundred years between Walras and Arrow-Debreu, Balasko discusses the properties of the equilibrium manifold and the natural projection. He highlights the important role of the set of no-trade equilibria, the structure of which is applied to the global structure of the equilibrium manifold. He also develops a geometric approach to the study of the equilibrium manifold. Applications include stability issues of adjustment dynamics for out-of-equilibrium prices, the introduction of price-dependent preferences, and aspects of time and uncertainty in extensions of the general equilibrium model that account for various forms of market frictions and imperfections. Special effort has been made at reducing the mathematical technicalities without compromising rigor. The Equilibrium Manifold makes clear the ways in which the postmodern” developments of the Arrow-Debreu model improve our understanding of modern market economies.

This monograph presents a general equilibrium methodology for microeconomic policy analysis. It is intended to serve as an alternative to the now classical, axiomatic general equilibrium theory as exposited in Debreu`s Theory of Value (1959) or Arrow and Hahn`s General Competitive Analysis (1971). The monograph consists of several essays written over the last decade. It also contains an appendix by Charles Steinhorn on the elements of O-minimal structures.

A long-standing unsolved problem in economic theory is how economic equilibria are attained. Price Dynamics in Equilibrium Models: The Search for Equilibrium and the Emergence of Endogenous Fluctuations considers a number of adjustment processes in different economic models and investigates their dynamical behaviour. Two important themes arising in this context are `bounded rationality' and `nonlinear dynamics'. Important sub-themes of the book are the following: how do boundedly rational agents interact with their environment and does this interaction in some sense lead to rational outcomes (which may or may not correspond to equilibria)? The second sub-theme deals with the consequences of the nonlinear dynamical nature of many adjustment processes. The results presented in this volume indicate that endogenous fluctuations are the rule rather than the exception in the search for equilibrium. The book uses the theory of nonlinear dynamics to analyze the dynamics of the different economic models. Due to the complexity of most of the models, an important role is played by computational methods. In particular, at regular instances the models are analyzed by numerical simulations and some computer-assisted proofs are provided. It also covers a wide range of dynamical models from economic theory. Most of these models merge the theory of nonlinear economic dynamics with the theory of bounded rationality. The book is written for anyone with an interest in economic theory in general and bounded rationality and endogenous fluctuations in particular. It is entirely self-contained and accessible to readers with only a limited knowledge of economic theory.

In the area of dynamic economics, David Cass’s work has spawned a number of important lines of research, including the study of dynamic general equilibrium theory, the concept of sunspot equilibria, and general equilibrium theory when markets are incomplete. Based on these contributions, this volume contains new developments in the field, written by Cass's students and co-authors.

An amazing debut! --Lisa Verge Higgins In the year since her husband died, Laura Klein's world has shifted on its axis. It's not just that she's raising two children alone--fact is, Laura always did the parenting for both of them. But now her fifteen-year-old daughter, Darcy, is dating a boy with a fast car and faster hands, and thirteen-year-old Troy's attitude has plummeted along with his voice. Just when she's resigning herself to a life of worry and selfless support, her charismatic new tenant offers what Laura least expects: a second chance. Darcy isn't surprised her mom doesn't understand her, though she never imagined her suddenly acting like a love-struck teen herself. With Troy starting to show signs of their father's bipolar disorder, and her best friend increasingly secretive, Darcy turns to her new boyfriend, Nick, for support. Yet Nick has a troubled side of his own, forcing Darcy toward life-altering choices. Exploring the effects of grief on both mother and daughter, Equilibrium is a thoughtful, resolutely uplifting novel about finding the balance between holding on and letting go, between knowing when to mourn and when to hope, and between the love we seek and the love we choose to give. "Equilibrium is an emotional, complex, and deeply satisfying novel about the power of hope, love, and family. I couldn't put it down!" --Lisa Verge Higgins, author of One Good Friend Deserves Another "Tender, heartbreaking and beautifully realistic. Fans of Anita Shreve will be riveted by this intense and compassionate story." --Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha, Anthony and Macavity-winning author

Thermodynamics of Phase Equilibria in Food Engineering is the definitive book on thermodynamics of equilibrium applied to food engineering. Food is a complex matrix consisting of different groups of compounds divided into macronutrients (lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins), and micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals). The quality characteristics of food products associated with the sensorial, physical and microbiological attributes are directly related to the thermodynamic properties of specific compounds and complexes that are formed during processing or by the action of diverse interventions, such as the environment, biochemical reactions, and others. In addition, in obtaining bioactive substances using separation processes, the knowledge of phase equilibria of food systems is essential to provide an efficient separation, with a low cost in the process and high selectivity in the recovery of the desired component. This book combines theory and application of phase equilibria data of systems containing food compounds to help food engineers and researchers to solve complex problems found in food processing. It provides support to researchers from academia and industry to better understand the behavior of food materials in the face of processing effects, and to develop ways to improve the quality of the food products. Presents the fundamentals of phase equilibria in the food industry Describes both classic and advanced models, including cubic equations of state and activity coefficient Encompasses distillation, solid-liquid extraction, liquid-liquid extraction, adsorption, crystallization and supercritical fluid extraction Explores equilibrium in advanced systems, including colloidal, electrolyte and protein systems

Concepts, procedures and programs described in this book make it possible for readers to solve both simple and complex equilibria problems quickly and easily and to visualize results in both numerical and graphical forms. They allow the user to calculate concentrations of reactants and products for both simple and complicated situations. The user can spend less time doing calculations and more time thinking about what the results mean in terms of a larger problem in which she or he may be interested.