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Pluralism in economics: its critiques and their lessons

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  • Claudius Graebner
  • Birte Strunk

Abstract

This paper provides a taxonomy and evaluation of five common arguments against pluralism in economics: (1) the claim that economics is already pluralist, (2) the argument that if there was the need for greater plurality, it would emerge on its own, (3) assertion that pluralism means "anything goes" and is thus unscientific, (4) the claim that economics must have a single core paradigm to justify its role as a major science, and (5) the contention that pluralism is an ideological movement from the left, and should not be granted scientific attention. We provide counter-arguments to all these arguments. Based on the assesment of these critques we identify two main challenges to be faced by advocates of pluralism: first, the need to derive adequate quality criteria for a pluralist economics, and second, the necessity to propose strategies that ensure the communication across different research paradigms. The paper concludes with some suggestions to meet these challenges.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudius Graebner & Birte Strunk, 2019. "Pluralism in economics: its critiques and their lessons," ICAE Working Papers 82, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    • Handle: RePEc:ico:wpaper:82
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    5. Aigner, Ernest, 2021. "Global dynamics and country-level development in academic economics: An explorative cognitive-bibliometric study," SRE-Discussion Papers 07/2021, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    6. Harry Bloch, 2022. "The language of pluralism from the history of the theory of price determination: Natural price, equilibrium price and administered price," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(4), pages 1094-1111, November.
    7. Wolf Rogowski & Wolfram Elsner, 2021. "How economics can help mitigate climate change - a critical review and conceptual analysis of economic paradigms," Bremen Papers on Economics & Innovation 2106, University of Bremen, Faculty of Business Studies and Economics.
    8. Klarizze Anne Martin Puzon & Rachel M. Gisselquist, 2021. "Consolidating behavioural economics and rational choice theory: Insights from inequality research," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-76, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
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    10. Patrick Kaczmarczyk & Heiner Flassbeck, 2023. "Foreign direct investments and the dynamics of trade and capital flows: Schumpeterian insights for sustained development," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 14(3), pages 477-488, June.

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