From Smith to Samuelson, “orthodoxy” in the economics discipline has shared two assumptions: that economics is a positive, value-free science, and that all social phenomena arise only as the result of purposeful actions by rational individuals. Within the orthodox camp, however, there is a diverse and evolving body of sometimes complementary, sometimes competing doctrines.

A.M.C. Waterman is a retired fellow at St. John’s College, Winnipeg and professor emeritus of economics at the University of Manitoba, Canada.
Economic PolicyEconomistsEconomyPhilosophy and Religion
Other Independent Review articles by A.M.C. Waterman
Winter 2020/21 Economics Meets War and Peace: Tolstoy’s Implicit Social Theory
Winter 2016/17 Pope Francis on the Environmental Crisis
Winter 2002/03 Economics, Love, and Family Values: Nancy Folbre and Jennifer Roback Morse on the Invisible Heart