Kincaid Harold, Ross Don. A Modern Guide to Philosophy of Economics

Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021. — 384 p.This insightful Modern Guide offers a broad coverage of questions and controversies encountered by contemporary economists. A refreshing approach to the philosophy of economics, chapters comprise a range of methodological and theoretical perspectives, from lab and field experiments to macroeconomics and applied policy work, written using a familiar, accessible language for economists. Highlighting key areas of methodological controversy, the Modern Guide looks at estimating utility functions in choice data, causal modeling, and ethics in randomized control trials. Chapters further explore topical issues, including economists' attitudes to other disciplines; gender bias in economic research; methods of modeling social influence in economics; behavioral welfare economics; anti-poverty policy controversies; and inflexible reliance on DSGE models in macroeconomics. Furthermore, it explores the implications of the last financial crisis for macroeconomic confidence and ways to adapt abstract theory to everyday policy advice. Avoiding philosophical jargon, and with the majority of chapters written by economists, this Modern Guide will challenge economists and scholars of the philosophy of economics to engage with different approaches to the topic. This will also be a useful tool for policymakers administering nudges, development initiatives, macro-forecasting, and monetary policy.