Examining the role of speculative bubbles in the stock market, this text argues that, provided they are sustainable, bubbles may have a positive effect on the market. They may provide additional investment opportunities with the potential to increase aggregate profits and improve economic welfare.

This book champions the view that economics is a social science, and that, moreover, it may serve as a new paradigm for the social sciences. Economics is taken to be part of those sciences which deal with actual problems of society by providing insights, improving our understanding and suggesting solutions. I am aware that the …

One of the main ways by which we can understand complex processes is to create computerised numerical simulation models of them. Modern simulation tools are not used only by experts, however, and reliability has therefore become an important issue, meaning that it is not sufficient for a simulation package merely to print out some numbers, …