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Economics has become polarised. On the one hand there is a body of economists who concern themselves with progressing their discipline via an increasing use of mathematical modelling. On the other hand, there are economists who believe passionately that in order for economics to be useful it needs to take account of its history, its impact on society and its real world applications.The contributors to this book fix their scholarly glare on the heterodox section of economics, and in particular upon critical realist approaches to the subject. Experts from a variety of perspectives have come together in these pages to examine the impact and usefulness of critical realism in relation to the different spheres within economics.Notable for its contributions from such distinguished figures as Clive Granger, Edward J. Nell and Peter J. Boettke - this book deserves to find a ready audience across the economics spectrum.
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Transforming Economics Economics has become polarised. On the one hand, orthodox economists attempt to advance their discipline via an increasing use of mathematical modeling. On the other hand, heterodox economists argue that if economics is to progress and to be useful, then, rather than relying on the unthinking application of mathematical modeling, economists must tailor their analytical tools more closely to the nature of their subject-matter than has hitherto been the case. The contributors to this book fix their scholarly gaze on the heterodox section of economics, and in particular upon critical realist approaches to the subject. Experts from a variety of perspectives have come together in these pages to examine the impact and usefulness of critical realism in relation to the different spheres within economics. Notable for its contributions from such distinguished figures as the latest winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, Clive Granger, Edward J. Nell and Peter J. Boettke, this book deserves to find a ready audience across the economics spectrum. Paul Lewis is a Newton Trust Lecturer in the Faculty of Economics and Politics and the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Cambridge University, and a Fellow of Selwyn College. Economics as Social Theory Series edited by Tony Lawson University of Cambridge Social theory is experiencing something of a revival within economics. Critical analyses of the particular nature of the subject matter of social studies and of the types of method, categories and modes of explanation that can legitimately be endorsed for the scientific study of social objects, are re-emerging. Economists are again addressing such issues as the relationship between agency and structure, between the economy and the rest of society, and between the enquirer and the object of enquiry. There is a renewed interest in elaborating basic categories such as causation, competition, culture, discrimination, evolution, money, need, order, organization, power, probability, process, rationality, technology, time, truth, uncertainty, value, etc. The objective for this series is to facilitate this revival further. In contemporary economics the label ‘theory’ has been appropriated by a group that confines itself to largely asocial, ahistorical, mathematical ‘modeling’. Economics as Social Theory thus reclaims the ‘Theory’ label, offering a platform for alternative rigorous, but broader and more critical conceptions of theorizing. Other titles in this series include: Economics and Language Edited by Willie Henderson Rationality, Institutions and Economic Methodology Edited by Uskali Mäki, Bo Gustafsson and Christian Knudsen New Directions in Economic Methodology Edited by Roger Backhouse Who Pays for the Kids? Nancy Folbre Rules and Choice in Economics Viktor Vanberg Beyond Rhetoric and Realism in Economics Thomas A. Boylan and Paschal F. O’Gorman Feminism, Object