In this chapter, we outline the reasons why economics has been concerned with non-linear dynamics, with a particular focus on business cycles and on economic growth. Using varying perspectives, we discuss the salient historical mathematical approaches to the problem and the results that were...

In this chapter, in Sect. 12.1 we provide a sketch of the Keynesian multiplier and the multiplier–accelerator model by Hansen and Samuelson. The description of the Kaldor model (Sect. 12.2) is introduced by the related literature (Sect. 12.2.1). As Kaldor described his model only...

In this chapter, we describe growth and cycles in economics as a struggle between capitalists and workers. We first present the Phillips curve (which statistically relates unemployment with the rate of change of nominal wages) and then the Goodwin model. The latter reinterprets, in economical...

When a system becomes unstable or noise becomes excessive, often regulations of the form of limiters (barriers obstructing excursion into undesired areas of the phase space) are imposed. It is hoped that by the influence of this element, the system can be calmed and its behaviour can be...

R.G. Goodwin mentioned that "economists will be led, as natural scientists have been led, to seek in nonlinearities an explanation of the maintenance of oscillation" (Goodwin, Econometrica 19(1), 1951); following this reasoning, we studied business cycles as if they were generated by nonlinear...

This chapter is dedicated to describe RQA applications in detecting spatio-temporal recurrent patterns of dynamical regimes of economic time series. Here we investigate the nature of economic dynamics and specifically of business cycles Orlando and Zimatore (Chaos, Solitons Fractals 110:82–94,...

After having illustrated in Chap. 13 the Harrod’s model and a chaotic specification of it, in this Chapter we are going to prove that (1) real data could be obtained by a suitable calibration of model’s parameters, (2) the calibrated model confirms theoretical predictions (Orlando and Della...

Monetary responses to financial stress have recently become an important issue in macroeconomic and policy discussions in the USA as well as in the EU. In this paper, the authors study two regimes of monetary responses. While the fundamentals of an economy are assumed to have a long-run...