The linear, mechanistic view of the world which pervades orthodox economics is simply not capable of capturing the richness and complexity of the rhythms and fluctuations of developed economies.

Once the true relationship between inflation and unemployment is understood, with luck and skill, a free lunch is possible.

The second part of the New Right's policy package has been the belief that free-market solutions are always best. It is this latter view which is profoundly mistaken. Markets and profits are crucial, but the pure free-market model itself is deeply flawed.

The model of competitive equilibrium which has been discussed so far is set in a timeless environment. People and companies all operate in a world in which there is no future and hence no uncertainty.

By any reasonable criteria, the discipline of economics as a whole, in its present state, is sadly lacking.

The behavior of the economy as a whole, at the aggregate, macro-level, is built up from the individual equations at the micro-level.

At 2 per cent growth a year, an economy doubles in size in just thirty years.