The competitive equilibrium
The competitive general equilibrium tries to give an understanding of the whole economy using a "bottom-up" approach, starting with individual markets and agents, as a microeconomic approach. The rational expectations theory is based off this microeconomic approach, where it assumes that each individual agent is capable of quickly adapting to market changes and solving for the competitive equilibrium. This bottom-up approach and the concept of quick adaptation have been the source of much criticism about the rational expectations theory.
II. Flaws
Application of rational expectation to aggregate behavior
The main idea behind the rational expectations hypothesis is to consistently extend the principle of individual rationality from the problem of the allocation of resources.
The problem is the hypothesis's application to aggregate behavior. Even if all individual agents have rational expectations, the representative corporation/household/industry describing these behavior may not collectively make efficient use of all given information. Hence, in the aggregate, agents may not satisfy rational assumptions, and hence does not have macroeconomic applicability.
The rational expectation accounts only for rationing by price
The rational expectation theory is inapplicable with the law of diminishing...
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