Structural Stability of the Political Economy
Norman Schofield

Abstract
Recent events in the global economy have caused many writers to argue that the market is driven by animal spirits, by irrational exuberance or speculation. At the same time, the economic downturn has apparently caused many voters in the United States, and other countries, to change their opinion about the the proper role of government. In the introduction, we discuss the Enlightenment arguments of Condorcet, Adam Smith and David Hume about the nature of cooperation and moral sentiments, and more recent work in sociobiology that has been influenced by new ideas in evolutionary theory. We then consider models of chaos, with applications to climate change and economics, and then discuss the past influences of climate on human society, and particularly how agriculture developed during the “holocene”, the past ten thousand years of benign climate. It is suggested that climate change is likely to bring about economic and political catastrophe.

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