noted that general systems theory is an
essentially content-free set of basic definitions and
programmatic statements. Critics may not see the
value of this approach unless they realize ... that,
as a content-free paradigm, GST is incomplete unless
complemented by content from some content-specific
Systems theory offers itself as a means of understanding the behavior of complex systems in any domain, essentially through the role of information in generating and controlling a system. (For this purpose, even inputs such as energy can be regarded as a type of information.) Thus, it is unlikely that applying systems theory to economic problems will lead to the discovery of new economic laws. Instead, what we hope to find through systems analysis is that the familiar laws of economics are instances, within a specific domain, of the general laws of systems interaction.
In one very important respect, however, we may hope to find through the application of systems theory an understanding of economi
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