If you are new to system dynamics

Minsky is one of many ``system dynamics'' programs. These programs allow a dynamic model of a system to be constructed, not by writing mathematical equations or computer code, but by laying out a model in a block diagram, which can then be simulated. These programs are now one of the main tools used by engineers to design complex products, and by management consultants to advise on corporate management, product marketing, local government projects, etc.

Minsky has many features in common with these programs, and adds another unique means to create dynamic equations—the ``Godley Table''—that is superior to block diagrams for modelling monetary flows.

The main advantages of the block diagram representation of dynamic equations over a list of equations are:

• They make the causal relationships in a complex model obvious. It takes a specialized mind to be able to see the causal relations in a large set of mathematical equations; the same equations laid out as diagrams can be read by anyone who can read a stock and flow diagram—and that's most of us;
• The block diagram paradigm makes it possible to structure a complex model via groups. For example, the fuel delivery system in a car can be treated as one group, the engine as another, the exhaust as yet another. This reduces visual complexity, and also makes it possible for different components of a complex model to be designed by different teams, and then ``wired together'' at a later stage.

Though these programs differ in appearance, they all work the same way: variables in a set of equations are linked by wires to mathematical operators. What would otherwise be a long list of equations is converted into a block diagram, and the block diagram makes the causal chain in the equations explicit and visually obvious. They are also explicitly tailored to producing numerical simulations of models.