Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/172304 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
CHOPE Working Paper No. 2017-12
Publisher: 
Duke University, Center for the History of Political Economy (CHOPE), Durham, NC
Abstract: 
In this tiny paper, a possible framework for a structuralist analysis of modern business-cycle theory is considered. In order to respond to the debates around the realist and instrumentalist interpretations of the works of Friedman I will provide a framework in which the tension between the opposite standpoints can be overcome. Based on epistemic structural realism, firstly, I will identify Friedman's stance as a mix of agent-level instrumentalism and macro-level causal realism and, secondly, I will scrutinize the consistency of this epistemic strategy. I will argue that causal realism requires one to be realist regarding the assumptions defining agents as well.
Subjects: 
structural realism
entity realism
business-cycle theory
unrealistic assumptions
JEL: 
B22
B41
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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