Time Irreversibility in Economic Theory

Abstract

This paper tries to clarify the role time irreversibility plays in several areas of economics. To this end three types of time irreversibility and several conceptual elements of economic analysis are introduced such as Boundary Conditions, Objectives, Procedural Rationality. These are used to typify various economic schools of thought and to examine the roles of time irreversibility in the various schools. Some of these conceptual elements are then combined to give a framework for the analysis of long-term economic development, involving invention, production and interactions with the environment.