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Systemic Risks in Society and Economics

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Social Self-Organization

Part of the book series: Understanding Complex Systems ((UCS))

Abstract

This contribution presents a summary of sources and drivers of systemic risks in socio-economic systems and related governance issues. The analysis is based on the theory of complex systems and illustrated by numerous examples, including financial market instability. Typical misunderstandings regarding the behavior and functioning of socio-economic systems will be addressed, and some current threats for the stability of social and economic systems are pointed out.

This chapter reprints a Case Study to be cited as D. Helbing (2010) Systemic Risks in Society and Economics. International Risk Governance Council (irgc), see http://irgc.org/IMG/pdf/Systemic_Risks_Helbing2.pdf.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the ETH Competence Center “Coping with Crises in Complex Socio-Economic Systems” (CCSS) through ETH Research Grant CH1-01 08-2. The author would like to thank Peter Felten for creating many of the illustrations shown in this contribution. Furthermore, the author is grateful for inspiring discussions with Kay Axhausen, Stefano Battiston, Lubos Buzna, Lars-Erik Cederman, Hans Herrmann, Imre Kondor, Matteo Marsili, Frank Schweitzer, Didier Sornette, Stefan Thurner, and many others.

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  1. CLU E1, ETH Zurich, Clausiusstrasse 50, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland

    Dirk Helbing (Chair of Sociology, in particular of Modeling and Simulation)

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  1. Lehrstuhl Soziologie, CLU E1, ETH Zürich, Clausiusstr. 50, Zürich, 8092, Switzerland

    Dirk Helbing

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Helbing, D. (2012). Systemic Risks in Society and Economics. In: Helbing, D. (eds) Social Self-Organization. Understanding Complex Systems. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-24004-1_14

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