by “Social researchers of the 19th century were impressed by the success of this branch of science [thermodynamics], and also by its similarity to economics. A gas is a macroscopic thing, characterized by macroscopic properties — temperature, pressure, volume. But it consists of many microscopic constituents (molecules) whose interactions collectively create the macroscopic state. The study of macroscopic properties arising from microscopic interactions is called statistical mechanics. That really does sound like economics: an economy is a macroscopic thing, characterized by macroscopic properties such as GDP and trade balances, and those macroscopic properties arise from myriad microscopic constituents (people) interacting with each other.” ergodicity economics
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“Social researchers of the 19th century were impressed by the success of this branch of science [thermodynamics], and also by its similarity to economics. A gas is a macroscopic thing, characterized by macroscopic properties — temperature, pressure, volume. But it consists of many microscopic constituents (molecules) whose interactions collectively create the macroscopic state. The study of macroscopic properties arising from microscopic interactions is called statistical mechanics. That really does sound like economics: an economy is a macroscopic thing, characterized by macroscopic properties such as GDP and trade balances, and those macroscopic properties arise from myriad microscopic constituents (people) interacting with each other.” ergodicity economics