Rigor versus Relevance in Economic Theory: A Plea for a Different Methodological Perspective

Abstract

A recent exchange between the late Mark Blaug and Heinz Kurz and Neri Salvadori on the relevance of Sraffian economics (and a significant amount of more orthodox approaches, for that matter) does not seem to offer conclusive arguments, mainly because both contenders share some outmoded approaches to the philosophy of science. If we instead adopt the perspective of the so-called semantic view of theories, the trade-off between rigor and relevance naturally comes out as a possible characteristic of models we encounter in many scientific disciplines, with economics not being an exception. Thus, those who argue in favor of an economic analysis both rigorous and relevant should at least have to bear the burden of the proof of its possibility.