The Methodology of Economics

• Preface; Part I. What You Always Wanted to Know about the Philosophy of Science but Were Afraid to Ask: 1. From the received view to the views of Popper; 2. From Popper to the new heterodoxy; Part II. The History of Economic Methodology: 3. The verifications, a largely nineteenth-century story; 4. The falsifications, a wholly twentieth-century story; 5. The distinction between positive and normative economics; Part III. A Methodological Appraisal of the Neoclassical Research Program: 6. The theory of consumer behaviour; 7. The theory of fun; 8. General equilibrium theory; 9. Marginal productive theory; 10. Switching, reswitching, and all that; 11. The Heckscher-Ohlin theory of international trade; 12. Keynesians versus monetarists; 13. Human capital theory; 14. The new economics of the family; 15. The rationality postulate; Part IV. What Have We Now Learned about Economics?: 16. Conclusions; Glossary; Suggestions for further reading; Bibliography; Name index; Subject index.

'It is beyond doubt that Blaug's book is one of the few really outstanding works in the recent literature on economic methodology.' Andrea Salanti, Ricerche Economiche