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The market as foreground: The ontological status of the market in market process theory

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  • Solomon Stein

    (Mercatus Center at George Mason University)

  • Virgil Henry Storr

    (George Mason University)

Abstract

Markets as objects of study in their own right have been given surprisingly little attention within neoclassical economics. The market has, in contrast, remained in the foreground for heterodox schools of economics, including market process theory. This essay suggests that the market remained in the analytical foreground for market process theorists even as it was increasingly absent in neoclassical economics on account of the different ontological commitments characterizing the two traditions. Attending to the ontological dimension of economic thought offers us a more complete understanding of how economics could become disconnected from the markets of the real world as well as why it was retained by heterodox economists.

Suggested Citation

  • Solomon Stein & Virgil Henry Storr, 2023. "The market as foreground: The ontological status of the market in market process theory," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 36(1), pages 1-21, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:revaec:v:36:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s11138-020-00535-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s11138-020-00535-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Critical realism; Heterodox economics; Market process theory; Social ontology;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B13 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Neoclassical through 1925 (Austrian, Marshallian, Walrasian, Wicksellian)
    • B20 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - General
    • B53 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Austrian
    • D40 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - General
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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