Economics, Social Science and Pluralism : Taylor & Francis Ltd : 9781032212319 : 29 Jan 2024 : In the work of most classical economists ? including Smith and Keynes ? theory was often embedded in application. But from the second half of the last century on, mainstream economics styled itself as "pure" economics, where the theory is presented in a very abstract form detached from any application. This book maintains that economics is a social science whose mission is to explain and, when possible, predict, phenomena of the real-world economy. The book argues that the first step to restoring economics as a social science is to define what issues economics should address. Only after this research agenda is established should the appropriate methodology be chosen, not the other way around. In this respect, examples from other social sciences as well as from natural sciences are considered more appropriate models for economics rather than physics. Moreover, the need for a closer interaction