Journal of Economic Literature
Book Reviews
2026-08-28
Blake LeBaron of Brandeis University reviews “Complex Adaptive Systems: An Introduction to Computational Models of Social Life” by John H. Miller, Scott E. Page,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Provides an account of complex adaptive social systems, focusing on the key tools and ideas that have emerged in the field since the mid-1990s, as well as the techniques needed to investigate such systems. Discusses complexity in social worlds; modeling; emergence; computation as theory; why agent-based objects; a basic framework; complex adaptive social systems in one dimension; social dynamics; evolving automata; some fundamentals of organizational decision making; and social science in between. Miller is Professor of Economics and Social Sciences in the Department of Social and Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University and Research Professor at the Santa Fe Institute. Page is Professor of Complex Systems, Political Science, and Economics at the University of Michigan and an external faculty member at the Santa Fe Institute. Bibliography; index.”