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Economics as Separate and Inexact

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2008

Daniel M. Hausman
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Extract

The Inexact and Separate Science of Economics (ISSE) offers an overview of standard microeconomics and general equilibrium theory. These are not the whole of orthodox economics, and orthodox economics is not the whole of economics. But orthodox economics dominates the profession, and the theoretical core of microeconomics and general equilibrium theory – what I called ‘equilibrium theory’ – is central to most orthodox economics. Unlike many methodological works, which focus almost exclusively on the empirical problems of equilibrium theory and its applications, ISSE is also concerned with the structure, strategy and heuristics of equilibrium theorizing, and it attempts to link questions about theory appraisal to questions about structure and strategy. It is addressed both to philosophers interested in epistemological questions posed by the social sciences and to economists interested in reflecting on and improving their discipline. Its inspiration lies in the work of John Stuart Mill.

Type
Symposium: The Separate and Inexact Science of Economics by Daniel M. Hausman
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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References

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