Editorial for Forum for Economic and Financial Studies (Volume 3, Issue 1)

Abstract

The papers in this issue, nicely fit together within the “systems approach,” as they all regard the economy as a system and analyze one or a few of its components. The systems approach has received increasing importance in various branches of analysis. The systems approach is commonly organized around general principles, such as the following: (i) that the system can be identified by some sort of boundary that differentiates it from its environment; (ii) that the system is essentially processual in nature; (iii) that this process can be conceptualized in terms of a basic model that focuses upon input, throughput, output, and feedback; (iv) that the overall operation of the system can be understood in terms of the satisfaction of system needs geared to survival or the achievement of homeostasis; (v) that the system is composed of subsystems that contribute to the satisfaction of the system’s overall needs; (vi) that these subsystems, which themselves have identifiable boundaries, are in a state of mutual interdependence, both internally and in relation to their environment; (vii) that the operation of the system can be observed in terms of the behavior of its constituent elements; (viii) that the critical activities within the context of system operation are those that involve boundary transactions, both internally between subsystems and externally in relation to the environment.