Reorienting Economics

This eagerly anticipated new book from Tony Lawson contends that economics can profit from a more explicit concern with ontology (enquiry into the nature of existence) than has been its custom. By admitting that economics is not exactly a picture of health at the moment, Lawson hopes that we can move away from the bafflingly intransigent belief that economics is at its core reliant upon mathematical modelling. This maths-envy is the reason why economics is in a state of such disarray. Far from being a polemic against the mainstream, this excellent new book is concerned that if economics is to be saved from itself then there must be a realistic dialogue between the classical heterodox fields. Of interest to philosophers, sociologists and social scientists as well as economists, this comprehensive, logical book is a vital contribution to an important debate.

Part 1 The Current Orientation of the Discipline and the Proposed Alternative; Chapter 1 Four Theses on the State of Modern Economics; Chapter 2 An Ontological Turn in Economics; Chapter 3 What has Realism got to do with it?; Part 2 Possibilities for Economics; Chapter 4 Explanatory Method for Social Science; Chapter 5 An Evolutionary Economics?; Chapter 6 Economics as a Distinct Social Science?; Part 3 Heterodox Traditions of Modern Economics; Chapter 7 The Nature of Post Keynesianism and the Problem of Delineating the Various Heterodox Traditions; Chapter 8 Institutional Economics and Realist Social Theorising; Chapter 9 Feminism, Realism and Universalism; Part 4 A Historical Perspective on Economic Practice; Chapter 10 An Explanation of the Mathematising Tendency in Modern Economics;