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Setting the context -- Why social ontology? -- A general conception -- Ontology and the study of social reality : emergence, organisation, community, power, social relations, corporations, artefacts and money -- Topics in scientific ontology -- The nature of the firm and peculiarities of the corporation -- The modern corporation : the site of a mechanism (of global social change) that is out-of-control? -- A theory of money -- The positioning and credit theories of money compared -- The nature and dynamics of processes of emergence, reproduction and transformation -- Emergence, morphogenesis, causal reduction and downward causation -- Collective practices and norms -- Consequences for projects of human emancipation -- Possibilities for emancipatory social change -- Index.

What do modern academic economists do? What currently is mainstream economics? What is neoclassical economics? And how about heterodox economics? How do the central concerns of modern economists, whatever their associations or allegiances, relate to those traditionally taken up in the discipline? And how did economics arrive at its current state? These and various cognate questions and concerns are systematically pursued in this new book by Tony Lawson. The result is a collection of previously published and new papers distinguished in providing the only comprehensive and coherent account of th

What do modern academic economists do? What currently is mainstream economics? What is neoclassical economics? And how about heterodox economics? How do the central concerns of modern economists, whatever their associations or allegiances, relate to those traditionally taken up in the discipline? And how did economics arrive at its current state? These and various cognate questions and concerns are systematically pursued in this new book by Tony Lawson. The result is a collection of previously published and new papers distinguished in providing the only comprehensive and coherent account of th.

'No reality please. We're economists'. There is a wide spread belief that modern economics is irrelevant to the understanding of the real world. In a controversial and original study, Tony Lawson argues that the root of this irrelevance is in the failure of economists to find methods and tools which are appropriate for the social world it addresses.Supporting his argument with a wide range of examples, Tony Lawson offers a provocative account of why economics has gone wrong and how it can be put back on track

This eagerly anticipated new book from Tony Lawson contends that economics can profit from a more explicit concern with ontology (enquiry into the nature of existence) than has been its custom. By admitting that economics is not exactly a picture of health at the moment, Lawson hopes that we can move away from the bafflingly intransigent belief that economics is at its core reliant upon mathematical modelling. This maths-envy is the reason why economics is in a state of such disarray. Far from being a polemic against the mainstream, this excellent new book is concerned that if economics is to

This eagerly anticipated new book from Tony Lawson contends that economics can profit from a more explicit concern with ontology (enquiry into the nature of existence) than has been its custom. By admitting that economics is not exactly a picture of health at the moment, Lawson hopes that we can move away from the bafflingly intransigent belief that economics is at its core reliant upon mathematical modelling. This maths-envy is the reason why economics is in a state of such disarray. Far from being a polemic against the mainstream, this excellent new book is concerned that if economics is.

AbstractIn the United Kingdom, as in several other countries, increasing life expectancy is leading to a shift in the age distribution of the population. Meanwhile, at the level of individuals, spending patterns change as people age. This paper investigates the extent to which demographic change is likely to affect household spending patterns by combining the techniques of dynamic microsimulation with an imputation method known as random assignment. While there has been significant concern about the economic cost of the ageing population, this paper finds a potentially beneficial effect in the form of an increase in total spending for most expenditure categories.

The widespread and long-lived failings of academic economics are due to an over-reliance on largely inappropriate mathematical methods of analysis. Many heterodox economists, however, appear to hold instead that the central problem is a form of political-economic ideology. Specifically, it is widely contended in heterodox circles that the discipline goes astray just because so many economists are committed to a portrayal of the market economy as a smoothly or efficiently functioning system or some such, a portrayal that, whether sincerely held or otherwise, is inconsistent with the workings of social reality. Here I critically examine the contention that a form of political-economic ideology of this sort is the primary problem and assess its explanatory power. I conclude that the contention does not fare very well. ; Las fallas generalizadas y duraderas de la economía académica se deben a la excesiva confianza en métodos de análisis matemáticos inapropiados. Muchos economistas heterodoxos piensan que el problema central es una forma de ideología político-económica, que la disciplina va por mal camino porque muchos economistas describen la economía de mercado como un sistema que funciona eficientemente, una descripción que, así sea sincera, es inconsistente con el funcionamiento de la realidad social. Este artículo examina la pretensión de que esa forma de ideología es el problema principal, evalúa su poder explicativo y concluye que no es una buena explicación.

Investigates the question of how feminists can transform the gendered features of society to facilitate less discrimination. Analysis of the feminist perspective identifies two problematic presuppositions of their struggle with discrimination. A review of the problems of gender contextualizes an ontology based on a structured social reality of social positions, internal relations, systems & collectivities, & social process. Gender is theorized by the components of distinction between individuals with sexual characteristics, & mechanisms of differentiation. The possibility for emancipatory practice is constrained by a focus on one version of the good society. The feminist neglect of ontology in favor of epistemology needs to co-development both theoretical arenas to advance substantial analysis. References. J. Harwell