Controllability and optimality in economic stabilisation theory

Abstract

This thesis is a contribution to the theory of economic policy under certainty, viewed in abstract rather than specific terms. Concern is not for particular applications, such as the debate over monetarism and fiscalism but for theoretical principles. More precisely, the thesis is built around the two fundamental issues of existence and design. By existence is meant the primary ability to stabilise a given economic system; by design, the techniques employed to construct a stabilising policy once existence is assured. This thesis contends, firstly, that the question of existence has been ignored in the theory of dynamic stabilisation; and secondly, that several aspects of dynamic design theory yield profitably to further analysis.