The Nature and Method of Economic Sciences

The Nature and Method of Economic Sciences PDF

Author: Ricardo F. Crespo

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-03-04

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 0429842082

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The Nature and Method of Economic Sciences: Evidence, Causality, and Ends argues that economic phenomena can be examined from five analytical levels: a statistical descriptive approach, a causal explanatory approach, a teleological explicative approach, a normative approach and, finally, the level of application. The above viewpoints are undertaken by different but related economic sciences, including statistics and economic history, positive economics, normative economics, and the ‘art of political economy’. Typically, positive economics has analysed economic phenomena using the second approach, causally explaining and often trying to predict the future evolution of the economy. It has not been concerned with the ends selected by the individual or society, taking them as given. However, various new economic currents have emerged during the last 40 years, and some of these do assign a fundamental role to ends within economics. This book argues that the field of positive economics should adapt to deal with the issues that arise from this. The text attempts to discern the nature of economic phenomena, introducing the different approaches and corresponding economic sciences. It goes on to analyse the epistemological characteristics of these in the subsequent chapters, as well as their disciplinary interrelations. This book is a valuable resource for students and scholars of the social sciences, philosophy, and the philosophy of economics. It will also be of interest to those researching political economy and the development of economic thought.

An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science

An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science PDF

Author: Lionel Robbins

Publisher: Ludwig von Mises Institute

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 158

ISBN-13: 1610160398

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This book by Lionel Robbins first appeared in 1932 as an outstanding English-language statement of the Misesian view of economic method, namely that economics is a social science and must advance its propositions by means of deductive reasoning and not through the methods used in the natural sciences. The case is argued here with patience and attention to scholarly details. The unfortunate second edition of this book, which is more available today, introduces confusions by departing from Austrian microeconomic theory. Thus does the Mises Institute celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first edition with this reprint. "Reading Robbins," writes Samuel Bostaph of the University of Dallas, "is an excellent way of contrasting his explanation of the basic nature of economics with that of the Austrian School, as found in the work of Mises as an extension of Carl Mengers's foundations. Such a reading wonderfully clarifies one’s understanding of the basic conception of economics as a science of human action, rather than one of mere 'economizing.' "

The Nature of the Economy

The Nature of the Economy PDF

Author: Ricardo F. Crespo

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-07-01

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 3031024532

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This book explores the deep meaning—the nature or essence—of the economy and its fundamental components. As a monograph on the philosophy of the economy and economics, it deduces the metaphysical nature of these two, going step by step from more general to more specific realities to finally arrive at the adequate features of the economic sciences and their methods. It builds on a largely Aristotelian approach, but also draws extensively from modern scholarship in the area. Usefully and pertinently, the book covers both general aspects of the economy and particular historically specific features. Among the important topics covered in the book are the meanings of the economy, the nature and role of economic agents, the nature of the macroeconomy, the nature and role of money, and so on. The book concludes with chapters on the nature of economics itself and its methodologies.

The Nature and Essence of Economic Theory

The Nature and Essence of Economic Theory PDF

Author: Joseph A. Schumpeter

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-09-08

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 1351478931

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Joseph A. Schumpeter was a monumental figure in the history and development of economics. This work brings together his brilliant lectures, delivered more than a century ago, in its first English-language paperback edition. Here, readers will discover Schumpeter's search for an economic science devoid of moral or political dogma. The Nature and Essence of Economic Theory works out what people should think of pure economics, what its nature is, what its methods and findings are, and where thought takes off from there. The book shows the limitations and weaknesses of nineteenth-century economics and how the field could be and was improved by establishing a fundamental differentiation between 'statistics' and 'dynamics'. To convey his arguments, Schumpeter uses certain axioms that form a consistent, self-contained system and show how sound economic science is based on facts and events rather than presuppositions or definitions. Schumpeter's larger aim, beyond a pedagogic tool, was to deduce changes in the market, trade, and exchange of goods and services. He defined the task of economy as the description of the system and its change tendencies. If that can be achieved unequivocally, without resorting to doctrine or dogma, then the field can be considered self-contained.

The Limits of Economic Science

The Limits of Economic Science PDF

Author: R.B. McKenzie

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 1982-12-31

Total Pages: 146

ISBN-13: 9780898381160

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The essays in this volume were a challenge to me to write. I am an economist to the core, inclined to evaluate most observed behavior and public policies with conventional neoclassical theory. The essays represent my attempt to come to grips with the meaning and importance of what I try to do as a professional economist. They reflect my attempt to acquire a new and improved understanding of the usefulness and limitations of the writings of professional economists, especially my own. In this regard, although I hope others will find the thoughts useful, the volume represents a personal statement of how one economist views his and others' work. For that reason the discussion is often openly normative, tinged with the conviction that social discourse is more than costs and benefits and that economics cannot be fully evaluated by the methods - economic methods - that are the subject of the evaluation. These essays could not have been written without considerable encouragement and help from colleagues and friends. The following people are recognized for having read one or more chapters and for having contributed critical, substantive comments: Diana Bailey, Wilfred Beckerman, Geoffrey Brennan, William Briet, James Buchanan, Delores Martin, David Maxwell, Mary Ann McKenzie, Warren Samuels, Robert Staaf, Richard Wagner, Karen Vaughn, and Bruce Yandle. I am very much in their debt. However, they should not be held accountable for any of the positions taken and any errors that may remain.

The Philosophy of Economics

The Philosophy of Economics PDF

Author: Daniel M. Hausman

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 11

ISBN-13: 0521883504

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This volume, explores the nature of economics as a science, including classic texts and newer essays.

The Science of Economics

The Science of Economics PDF

Author: Raymond Makewell

Publisher: Shepheard-Walwyn

Published: 2013-06-01

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 0856833967

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Based on a three-year course prepared by Leon MacLaren for the School of Economic Science in London in the late 1960s, this book reassesses the first principles of economics. Leon MacLaren (1910–1994) was a barrister, politician, philosopher, and the founder of the School of Economic Science. In his view, science is a study of laws that exist in nature, while economics is a study of the humanities with the interaction between human nature and the natural universe at its heart. With original subject matter from his economic course and introducing more recent examples and statistics from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the United States, the study examines the major characteristics of the modern economy—such as banking, taxation, and international trade—and considers the role of the government in economic affairs. It concludes with an examination of society's structure as a whole, the part economic activity plays in the bigger picture, and the social and cultural influences that shape the production and distribution of wealth.

The Limits of Economic Science

The Limits of Economic Science PDF

Author: R.B. McKenzie

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 135

ISBN-13: 9400974213

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The essays in this volume were a challenge to me to write. I am an economist to the core, inclined to evaluate most observed behavior and public policies with conventional neoclassical theory. The essays represent my attempt to come to grips with the meaning and importance of what I try to do as a professional economist. They reflect my attempt to acquire a new and improved understanding of the usefulness and limitations of the writings of professional economists, especially my own. In this regard, although I hope others will find the thoughts useful, the volume represents a personal statement of how one economist views his and others' work. For that reason the discussion is often openly normative, tinged with the conviction that social discourse is more than costs and benefits and that economics cannot be fully evaluated by the methods - economic methods - that are the subject of the evaluation. These essays could not have been written without considerable encouragement and help from colleagues and friends. The following people are recognized for having read one or more chapters and for having contributed critical, substantive comments: Diana Bailey, Wilfred Beckerman, Geoffrey Brennan, William Briet, James Buchanan, Delores Martin, David Maxwell, Mary Ann McKenzie, Warren Samuels, Robert Staaf, Richard Wagner, Karen Vaughn, and Bruce Yandle. I am very much in their debt. However, they should not be held accountable for any of the positions taken and any errors that may remain.