Complexity Economics: The State as Architect of the Fitness Function

This article challenges the traditional view of the economy as a mechanical machine striving for equilibrium. Instead, the authors propose a perspective of complexity economics, in which the market is a dynamic, adaptive system. A key element of this vision is the state, which, rather than intervening in the free market, acts as the architect of the fitness function. It is this institutional framework that determines which firm strategies and innovations will be rewarded and which will be eliminated. The text examines mechanisms such as inductive rationality, emergence, and volatility clustering, pointing to the need for management through a portfolio of experiments. The transition from physical to social technologies requires a new approach to economic policy, based on an understanding of feedback loops and extreme phenomena in financial ecosystems.