The invisible hand metaphor dates to the 18th century but only gained prominence after neoclassical analysis came to dominate economic thinking late 19th century. Neoclassical economists rigorously established the assumptions necessary for an economy to operate in accordance with the metaphor,...

Economics teaching relies overwhelmingly on faculty lecturing, which is generally seen as a significant pedagogical problem. But this paper argues that didactic instruction is actually well-suited to the neoclassical economics that is usually taught. This approach – especially its textbook...

In this paper I argue that methodological reflection guided by a critique of the ontological foundations of economic theories can be used to enhance arguments for a pluralist economics education. I accomplish this by reviewing the literature regarding the requirements for a pluralist economics...

Models are representations of reality. They simplify and ignore many complexities in order to focus on certain aspects. With constant and repeated use, theorists sometimes confuse the model with reality. This leads to many types of errors. In this article, we argue that the metaphor of the...

In 1985 the Department of Economics at Dickinson College USA, a private four year liberal arts college, embarked upon a bold but promising reform of its economics programme placing it on the cutting edge of what is now called 'pluralist economics education'. This new approach to the philosophy...

Barone's 1991 essay stimulated a debate in our economics department. Two department members at the time, Yngve Ramstad and Richard McIntyre, proposed to reorganise the undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree to emphasise contending perspectives. When this proposal was rejected, Ramstad then...

The recent financial crisis has prompted many business school leaders to reconsider the course content of their finance programmes. I argue that students would benefit from an understanding of how neoclassical and heterodox economists study the structure and function of financial systems. To...

Pedagogies infused by methodological pluralism are better able to encourage students to use stories to make connections between classroom material and the pulse of their daily lives. Teaching during times of economic and financial crises also provides an opening for theoretical pluralism. The...

The introductory course poses a particular problem for a pluralist approach. The mainstream has assumed that its paradigm constitutes the whole of what is worthwhile communicating to first year students. Thus a substantial portion of the available teaching time has been pre-allocated. The...