The Soft Consensus Model in the Multidistance Framework

Abstract

This volume is dedicated to Prof. Jaime Gil Aluja, President of the Royal Academy of Economic and Financial Sciences (RACEF-Real Academia de Ciencias Económicas y Financieras of Spain), a world famous scientific and scholarly corporation aimed at the promotion of broadly perceived economic and financial sciences as well as many related areas of science and technology exemplified by humanities and social sciences, organizational sciences, cognitive sciences, systems science, just to name a few. Among the RACEF members, there are many prominent scientists and scholars, including 10 winners of the Nobel Prize in Econimics, but also many financial and political leaders from all over the world. By dedicating this book to Prof. Gil Aluja, we, the editors, on behalf of the entire research and professional community, wish to present a small token of appreciation for his great scientific and scholarly achievements, long-time service to many scientific and professional communities, notably those involved in economics, finance and management and, more specifically, the foundations and applications of tools and techniques for dealing with uncertain, imprecise and incomplete information, notably by using fuzzy logic and possibility theory. At a more personal level, we also wish to thank him for a constant support of what we and many of our students and collaborators have been undertaking for so many years. The volume is divided into six parts that cover main issues related to the topic of the volume. Part I, "Basic Issues in Economic, Organization and Management Systems", deals with some basic and foundation issues in broadly perceived economic, organization, and management systems that are crucial for the understanding, analyses, and even shaping of the main aspects that concern our society and economy. Finn E. Kydland, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2004, in his paper "Does Policy Consistency Affect Economic Growth?" provides an in-depth analysis of some issues related to uncertainty in the economic and business environment the extent of which is extremely high in the present world, in particular over the last couple of decades. Many reasons can be quoted for this, notably a lack of clarity in economic policy making that exists in virtually all countries. It is obvious that all decisions that are meant to stimulate growth, innovation, xi investments, etc., require a clarity as to the policy environment, not only now but in the future, sometimes quite distant. This can include many aspects including tax policy, spending, and debt policy, extent of trade restrictions, just to name a few. It is contended that, taking into account what has been known in economic theory, the increase in policy uncertainty over the past decade has been normal and predictable to a large extent. This claim is illustrated by an analysis of the Euro zone, the United States, and China. The lessons learnt are summarized and some possible solutions for the future are pointed out. Fernando Casado Juan ("Perception and Reality of the Spanis...