Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-2lccl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T16:17:34.126Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Appraising General Equilibrium Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2008

E. Roy Weintraub
E. Roy Weintraub
Affiliation:
Duke University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

General equilibrium analysis is a theoretical structure which focuses research in economics. On this point economists and philosophers agree. Yet studies in general equilibrium analyses are not well understood in the sense that, though their importance is recognized, their role in the growth of economic knowledge is a subject of some controversy. Several questions organize an appraisal of general equilibrium analysis. These questions have been variously posed by philosophers of science, economic methodologists, and historians of economic thought. Is general equilibrium analysis a theory, a paradigm, a scientific research program, or a set of interrelated theories? Is it not any of these but rather a branch of applied mathematics? Is GE analysis associated with the growth of knowledge, or does it waste intellectual resources? How is it related to other work in economics? Is it connected to, or is it apart from, the concerns of applied economists?

Type
Essays
Information
Economics & Philosophy , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , April 1985 , pp. 23 - 37
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Blaug, M.The Methodology of Economics. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1980.Google Scholar
Cassel, G.The Theory of Social Economy. Trans, by Barron, S. L.. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1932 [1918].Google Scholar
Coddington, A. “The Rationale of General Equilibrium.” Economic Inquiry, 13, 4, 12 1975.Google Scholar
Davis, P. & Hersh, R.The Mathematical Experience. Boston: Birkhauser, 1981.Google Scholar
Dow, S. “Weintraub and Wiles: The Methodological Basis of Policy Conflict.” The Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, 3, 3, Spring 1981.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hands, D. W. “What Economics Is Not: An Economist's Reply to Rosenberg.” Economics Department, University of Puget Sound, Mimeograph, 1984.Google Scholar
Hausman, D. M. “Are General Equilibrium Theories Explanatory?,” in Philosophy in Economics. Ed.: Pitt, J. C.. Amsterdam: Reidel, 1981.Google Scholar
Hicks, J. R.Value and Capital. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1939.Google Scholar
ICF, Inc. Developing a Least-Cost Energy Strategy. Washington, D.C.: ICF, Inc., 1981.Google Scholar
Lakatos, I.Proofs and Refutations. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1976.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lakatos, I. “Falsification and the Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes.” In I. Lakatos, The Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes: Philosophical Papers, Volume 1. Eds.: Worrall, J. and Currie, G.. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1978.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leijonhufvud, A. “Schools, ‘Revolutions,’ and Research Programs.” In Method and Appraisal in Economics. Ed.: Latsis, S.. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1976.Google Scholar
Miedema, A. K., White, S. B., Clayton, C. A., Alexander, B. V. & Kumm, M. S.Time of Use Electricity Price Effects, North Carolina. Research Triangle Park, N.C.: Research Triangle Institute, 1981.Google Scholar
Public Staff of the North Carolina Utilities Commission. Analysis of Long Range Needs for Electric Generating Facilities in North Carolina, Vols. 1 and 2. Raleigh: North Carolina Utilities Commission, 1979.Google Scholar
Public Staff of the North Carolina Utilities Commission. Analysis of Long Range Needs for Electric Generating Facilities in North Carolina. Raleigh: North Carolina Utilities Commission, 1981.Google Scholar
Rosenberg, A. “If Economics Isn't Science, What Is It?” The Philosophical Forum, 14, 3–4, Spring-Summer 1983.Google Scholar
Stegmuller, W., Balzar, W., & Spohn, W., Eds. The Philosophy of Economics. Berlin: Springer Verlag, 1982.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weintraub, E. R.Microfoundations: The Compatibility of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1979.Google Scholar
Weintraub, E. R. “Substantive Mountains and Methodological Molehills.” The journal of Post Keynesian Economics, 4, 2, Winter 1982.Google Scholar
Weintraub, E. R. “On The Existence Of A Competitive Equilibrium: 1930–1954,” The Journal of Economic Literature, 21, 1, 03 1983.Google Scholar
Weintraub, E. R.General Equilibrium Analysis: Studies In Appraisal. New York: Cambridge University Press, in press.Google Scholar