The introduction of a delay in the Friedmann equation of cosmological
evolution, viewed as a dynamical system, is shown to result in the very
early universe undergoing the necessary accelerated expansion in the
usual radiation (or matter) dominated phase. This occurs without a
violation of the strong energy condition. Moreover, the expansion slows
down naturally to go over to the decelerated phase, namely the standard
Hubble expansion. This seems to obviate the need for a scalar field
driven inflationary epoch.
