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

The Review of Austrian Economics volume 36, pages 1–21 (2023)Cite this article

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.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mercatus Center at George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, PPE 1A1, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA

    Solomon Stein

  2. George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

    Virgil Henry Storr

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  1. Solomon Stein
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  2. Virgil Henry Storr
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Correspondence to Solomon Stein.

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Stein, S., Storr, V.H. The market as foreground: The ontological status of the market in market process theory. Rev Austrian Econ 36, 1–21 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11138-020-00535-4

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Keywords

  • Critical realism
  • Heterodox economics
  • Market process theory
  • Social ontology

JEL classification

  • B13
  • B20
  • B53
  • D40
  • Z13