Philosophy and Methodology

Confronted with the limitations of formalism, many economists have adopted alternative epistemological approaches which are supposed to favor a better understanding of economic phenomena. Among those, hermeneutics has enjoyed a certain success. Hermeneutics is a general theory of understanding based on the interpretation of an external reality testifying to an internal subjective reality. In economics, the interpretive act (or the process of theorization) consists in the ongoing dialogic confrontation between what contemporary economists know and what the individuals under scrutiny express of their own interpretation of the world.

A sizable number of examiners of Austrian economics have come to hold a mistaken view that Hoppe’s and Rothbard’s stances on the nature and status of the action axiom are fundamentally incompatible.

There are two Coase theorems. The simplistic one deals with the unrealistic world of zero transactions costs. The more important one addresses itself to the real world, where transactions costs are positive, 

I propose to confine the present examination of Professor O'Neill's book to one central topic, likely to be one of interest to readers of the Quarterly Journal.

William Barnett’s critique of mathematics in economic analysis, “Dimensions and Economics: Some Problems,” claims that economics almost always uses functions and equations without paying any attention

In contemporary economic theory, and especially in macroeconomics, expectations are being given a central place. There is virtually no economic model that does not examine how, within a dynamic perspective,

This paper is about the alleged tension between methodological individualism and evolutionary ideas in the work of Friedrich Hayek.

The best parts of Rahn's book are those dealing with the enhancement of privacy in the digital age. These parts are realistic and encouraging.  

Dr. Sennholz, successfully blended his knowledge of the science of economics with a deep commitment to the moral principles governing a society of free and responsible individuals.

Court decisions and legislation have a profound impact on the economy because they define and modify property rights. Economists have therefore always been interested in analyzing this impact.