ABSTRACT
This chapter contrasts the underlying methodologies, or basic principles of reasoning, of three economic theories: the dominant mainstream approach, neoclassical theory, and two nonmainstream “Marxist” alternatives—orthodox Marxian theory and what I will call radical economics. This will leave aside other important approaches, such as Keynesian and post-Keynesian economics; still, it is hoped that this exercise will help clarify the economics discipline as a whole and the place of “left” or nonmainstream approaches within the discipline.
