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Cambridge Journal of Economics Advance Access originally published online on November 18, 2008
Cambridge Journal of Economics 2009 33(3):517-530; doi:10.1093/cje/ben051
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved.

This article appears in the following Cambridge Journal of Economics issue: Special focus: The intellectual legacy of Brian Reddaway [View the issue table of contents]

Critical realism and the Austrian paradox

Adam Martin*

* George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

Address for correspondence: George Mason University, Department of Economics, MS 3G4, Fairfax, VA 22030; email: amartini{at}gmu.edu

Austrian economics provokes mixed reactions among critical realists. It preaches methodological individualism, marginalism, and rational choice while embracing emergence, open processes, and error. The Austrian school stands paradoxically with one foot each in the mainstream marginalist tradition and heterodox social theory. I argue that this paradox can be disentangled by appeal to the fundamental distinction between the logic of choice and the logic of action. I then extend the analysis of the logic of action to the critical realist account of the basic ontology of social structures, arguing that successful retroduction of social structures depends on marginalist insights.

Key Words: Austrian Economics • Critical realism • Social ontology • Heterodox economics

JEL classifications: B41, B50, B53

Manuscript received May 19, 2008; final version received October 13, 2008.


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