JOURNAL ARTICLE
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Central Fallacies of Modern Economics
Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch, Vol. 135 (2015), Iss. 2 : pp. 189–208
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Tony Lawson, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Economics, Sidgwick Ave., GB-Cambridge CB3 9DD, UK
Abstract
Although it is widely recognised that the modern discipline of economics is short on explanatory successes, there is little sign that ongoing critical assessments of the situation are leading to any improvements. The reason for this lack of progress, it will be argued, is a prevalence of a set of fallacies maintained very often by mainstream practitioners and heterodox critics alike. These tend to take the form of presuppositions that underpin more explicit beliefs and accepted practices. Mostly they remain implicit and largely unnoticed. When noticed, they are regarded as so obviously correct they are rarely critically examined. Here I do examine them both explicitly and critically.