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isaac_reads_xd 's review for:
Thinking in Systems: A Primer
by Donella H. Meadows
A beautifully written and insightful introduction into the world of complexity and chaos. Donella masterfully weaves real-world applicability with facile theory, she leaves questions hanging at crucial moments allowing the reader to draw inferences on their own rather than being force fed contrived exposition.
Although any literature which critiques neoclassical economics will automatically be a 5 star this book artfully picks apart the archaic theories of marginalised productivity and endless exponential growth with simple, straight forward arguments. (All without the backing of GFC)
Refreshingly, she at all times admits - and sometimes even encourages - the theory's shortcomings and flaws (other economists take note!)
There were several, eye-widening moments which definitely caught me by surprise, for instance:
- Shortening delay times in a system (an inventory manager's perception of the sales rate) can have dire - and counter intuitive - consequences, mainly in the form of oscillations. This is due to the over and under correction of information flows. Jumpiness response. And;
- Within a policy-resistant system, actors fight for their own individual goals, so that if one gains an advantage the others double their efforts to pull it back. This culminates in a standoff, whilst the actual stock of system remains unchanged. A way around this is to let go. "Give up ineffective policies. Let the resources and energy spent on both enforcing and resisting be used for more constructive purposes. You wont get your way with the system but it wont gar as far in the bad direction as you think, because much of the action you were trying to correct was in response to your own action."
The final chapter a menagerie of concepts gleaned from decades within the field was the crescendo of the book. It felt like an acceptance of the complexities and uncertainty she so vehemently argued for throughout the book. These concepts applicable to more than just policy evaluation. The most profound of which being, get the beat of the system: "... watch how it behaves. If it’s a piece of music or a whitewater rapid or a fluctuation in a commodity price, study its beat. If it’s a social system, watch it work. Learn its history. Ask people who’ve been around a long time to tell you what has happened."
Analytical, concise and persuasive it's safe to say this book has indoctrinated me into complexity economics.
Although any literature which critiques neoclassical economics will automatically be a 5 star this book artfully picks apart the archaic theories of marginalised productivity and endless exponential growth with simple, straight forward arguments. (All without the backing of GFC)
Refreshingly, she at all times admits - and sometimes even encourages - the theory's shortcomings and flaws (other economists take note!)
There were several, eye-widening moments which definitely caught me by surprise, for instance:
- Shortening delay times in a system (an inventory manager's perception of the sales rate) can have dire - and counter intuitive - consequences, mainly in the form of oscillations. This is due to the over and under correction of information flows. Jumpiness response. And;
- Within a policy-resistant system, actors fight for their own individual goals, so that if one gains an advantage the others double their efforts to pull it back. This culminates in a standoff, whilst the actual stock of system remains unchanged. A way around this is to let go. "Give up ineffective policies. Let the resources and energy spent on both enforcing and resisting be used for more constructive purposes. You wont get your way with the system but it wont gar as far in the bad direction as you think, because much of the action you were trying to correct was in response to your own action."
The final chapter a menagerie of concepts gleaned from decades within the field was the crescendo of the book. It felt like an acceptance of the complexities and uncertainty she so vehemently argued for throughout the book. These concepts applicable to more than just policy evaluation. The most profound of which being, get the beat of the system: "... watch how it behaves. If it’s a piece of music or a whitewater rapid or a fluctuation in a commodity price, study its beat. If it’s a social system, watch it work. Learn its history. Ask people who’ve been around a long time to tell you what has happened."
Analytical, concise and persuasive it's safe to say this book has indoctrinated me into complexity economics.
"In the end, it seems that mastery has less to do with pushing leverage points than it does with strategically, profoundly, madly, letting go and dancing with the system."