Economics and Engineering: A Pluralistic Alliance

Economics and engineering have often intertwined, through the sharing of mathematical modeling tools, analogies and a functional epistemological nomadism, in which engineering has often been the origin or vector of the transfer of natural science approaches and constructs towards economics. However, this migration has sometimes been marred by reductionism or semantic vagueness, which have limited its potential, especially in the face of a world driven by new technologies and globalization. The article argues that advances in our understanding require doing more to leverage the economic-engineering nexus, by forming a shared scientific platform between the two disciplines. Economics and engineering need to participate in a dialogue, but so far they have often been hindered in this by the disciplinary imperialism of their respective mainstreams. We need a new «pluralistic alliance» between peers, in a regime of semi-autonomy, which favors an epistemological approach capable of feeding the science of complexity and a greater unification of knowledge. The article discusses how to institutionalize this platform and highlights the incipient state and the difficulties that stand in the way of its legitimacy, with specific reference to Italy