This paper extends various arguments in the recent historical literature on Soviet mathematical economics during the Cold War. It will examine some of the tensions associated with the attempt to blend Walrasian economics and Soviet planning. The main argument is that the two literatures crossed...

Paul Samuelson often used the term "Santa Claus economics" for mathematical models with extremely strong and empirically unrealistic assumptions. Although Santa Claus models represented a broad class for Samuelson – some useful and some not – I will focus on one particular member of the...

This paper examines methodological issues raised by revealed preference theory in economics: particularly contemporary revealed preference theory. The paper has three goals. First, to make the case that revealed preference theory is a broad research program in choice theory – not a single...

There is an extensive critical literature analyzing the libertarian paternalism (LP) of Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein. This paper is critical as well, but does so from a different perspective than most of the existing research. Thaler and Sunstein characterize LP by at least two key features:...

This paper provides my personal reflections on the development of economic methodology during the 21st century as well as a discussion of the methodological literature immediately preceding it. It is based on my experience – both as an editor and researcher within the field – and to some...

The purpose of this paper is to examine the normative interpretation of the fast-and-frugal research program and in particular to contrast it with the normative reading of rational choice theory and behavioral economics. The ecological rationality of fast-and-frugal heuristics is admittedly a...

During the heyday of discussion about Milton Friedman's 1953 methodology paper, Samuelson's operationalism was often discussed as the primary competitor to Friedman's position. Although Friedman's paper continues to be discussed - albeit at a steadily decreasing rate - Samuelson's account of...

Lionel Robbins 1932 Essay is one of the most influential methodological works in 20th century economics. This said, the Essay is not philosophically seamless; it exhibits certain tensions that are not easily reconciled within any specific philosophical characterization of scientific knowledge....

Abstract: Frank Knight was an enigmatic thinker: not only about economics, but also about individual and social behavior more generally, ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, and a number of other subjects. However, his views on some topics often created tensions with his views on other...

The paper argues that much of the theoretical work on consumer choice theory during the first third of the twentieth century actually addressed some of the same issues discussed in contemporary behavioral economics. This is not generally recognized because the discussion was tied up with the...