Routledge Handbook of Macroeconomic Methodology

21 Methodological pluralism in macroeconomics

Alessandro Vercelli and Ioana Negru

DOI: 10.4324/9781315745992-25

Introduction

In contemporary macroeconomics, there is plenty of heterogeneity between and within schools, but very little engagement amongst different streams of thought, particularly between the dominant paradigm and the heterodox approaches (see e.g. Dow 1996 [1982]). Many disagreements between economists and schools of thought stem from deep-seated theoretical, methodological and ideological differences that prevent a constructive dialogue between them. We advocate instead methodological pluralism, namely a standpoint, grounded in epistemic pluralism, which affirms the existence and legitimacy of various methodological positions ...