Traditionally, economists have attributed consistency and rational calculation to the action of ‘economic man’. In a powerful challenge to orthodox thinking, Geoffrey Hodgson maintains that social institutions play a central and essential role in molding preferences and guiding action: institutions are regarded as enabling action rather than merely providing constraints.

This unique up-to-date volume not only provides state-of-the-art discussions of the most recent developments in modern macroeconomics but also includes a series of interviews with leading economists that shed new light on the major intellectual and policy issues of the 1990s. The book is at once an invaluable text and a superb overview that will be welcomed by teachers and students alike.

Der Vortrag von Michaela Haase bietet eine Einführung in die Wissenschaftstheorie, mit besonderem Bezug zu den Wirtschaftswissenschaften. Sie erläutert dabei die Argumente für Theorienpluralismus aus Sicht von Popper, Kuhn und Lakatos, geht auf den Instrumentalismus Friedmans ein und vergleicht die Ansätze Hayeks und Hempels zu wissenschaftlichen Methoden.