This article is a translation of the original German text of Hans Albert's 1963 article titled ‘Modell-Platonismus. Der neoklassische Stil des ökonomischen Denkens in kritischer Beleuchtung’, in F. Karrenberg and H. Albert (eds.), Sozialwissenschaft und Gesellschaftsgestaltung – Festschrift für Gerhard Weisser, Berlin: Duncker und Humblot, 45–76. The enduring relevance of Hans Albert's critique together with an introduction to the author as one of Germanys most distinguished philosophers of science can be found in Arnold and Maier-Rigaud (2012) also in this volume.