John Foster

Many scholars and much conventional wisdom assumes that nuclear deterrence has prevented major power war since the end of the Second World War; this remains a principal tenet of US strategic policy today. Others challenge this assumption, and argue that major war would have been "obsolete" even without the bomb.

In a diverse set of contributions presented by Metcalfe (political economy, U. of Manchester, UK) and Foster (economics, U. of Queensland, Australia), contributors address the theory and practice of evolutionary economic analysis, emphasizing the relationship between evolutionary economics and complexity science. The idea that a complex system is a network structure that contains elements and connections that constitute knowledge is a key theme that emerges, according to the editors.

Date and location: August 22, 1972, Chateauvallon, France
Liner notes: Jacques Chesnel