Confused Confusers: How to Stop Thinking Like an Economist and Start Thinking Like a Scientist

Abstract

The present paper takes it as an indisputable fact that subjective-behavioral thinking leads, for deeper methodological reasons, to inconclusive filibustering about the agents’ economic conduct and therefore has to be replaced by something fundamentally different. The key argument runs as follows: (a) the subjective-behavioral approach cannot, as a matter of principle, afford a correct profit theory, (b) without a correct profit theory it is impossible to comprehend how the monetary economy works, (c) without this knowledge economic policy proposals are unjustifiable, (d) thinking like an economist may be hazardous to the economy.

Keywords: new framework of concepts, structure-centric, axiom set, objectivestructural, income, profit, distributed profit, retained profit, General Complementarity, methodological individualism, J. S. Mill, opus magnum

JEL Classification: A11, B41, D00, E00