Abstract:
In a closed economic system, money is conserved. Thus, by analogy with energy, the equilibrium probability distribution of money must follow the exponential Boltzmann-Gibbs law characterized by an effective temperature equal to the average amount of money per economic agent. We demonstrate how the Boltzmann-Gibbs distribution emerges in computer simulations of economic models. Then we consider a thermal machine, in which the difference of temperatures allows one to extract a monetary profit. We also discuss the role of debt, and models with broken time-reversal symmetry for which the Boltzmann-Gibbs law does not hold. The instantaneous distribution of money among the agents of a system should not be confused with the distribution of wealth. The latter also includes material wealth, which is not conserved, and thus may have a different (e.g. power-law) distribution.
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Received 22 June 2000
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Dragulescu, A., Yakovenko, V. Statistical mechanics of money. Eur. Phys. J. B 17, 723–729 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510070114
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510070114