The biological and social sciences offer many examples of complex systems which were not consciously designed or engineered but which have evolved over long periods from more primitive forms. Built-in mechanisms for control or guidance of such systems may be quite elaborate but somewhat imperfect and indirect. Two primary propositions are discussed. The first is that the evolution of the complex markets basic in western economies has realized an institutional structure through which decentralized guidance of the economy can be implemented. The second is that with such market structures it may be possible to design economic policies which realize sufficient control of the economic system without direct intervention in the optimizing decisions of individual elements in the system. The paper is primarily tutorial and surveys the relevant technical literature on models of economic growth. However, some new results and a new interpretation of known results are presented.

Random number generators of the mixed congruential type have recently been proposed. They appear to have some advantages over those of the multiplicative type, except that their statistical behavior is unsatisfactory in some cases. It is shown theoretically that a certain class of these mixed generators should be expected to fail statistical tests for randomness. Extensive testing confirms this hypothesis and makes possible a more precise definition of the unsatisfactory class. It is concluded that the advantages of mixed generators can be realized only in special circumstances. On machines with relatively short multiplication times the multiplicative generators are to be preferred.

article Free Access Share on Mixed Congruential Random Number Generators for Decimal Machines Authors: J. L. Allard University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., CanadaView Profile , A. R. Dobell University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., CanadaView Profile , T. E. Hull University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., CanadaView Profile Authors Info & Claims Journal of the ACMVolume 10Issue 2April 1963 pp 131–141https://doi.org/10.1145/321160.321163Online:01 April 1963Publication History 21citation423DownloadsMetricsTotal Citations21Total Downloads423Last 12 Months23Last 6 weeks3 Get Citation AlertsNew Citation Alert added!This alert has been successfully added and will be sent to:You will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited.To manage your alert preferences, click on the button below.Manage my Alerts New Citation Alert!Please log in to your account Save to BinderSave to BinderCreate a New BinderNameCancelCreateExport CitationPublisher SiteeReaderPDF