Online ISSN 2286-0266
Print ISSN 1223-0685
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Ionela BĂLŢĂTESCU
Institutul de Economie Mondială, Academia Română
The purpose of the present paper is to emphasize, on the basis of a comparative study, the differences between Neoclassical School of economics and Austrian School’s approaches regarding the nature of economic laws – especially the differences between Carl Menger and Léon Walras’s conceptions on this matter. The main thesis sustained is that their ideas depend largely on how each of them conceive the role and purpose of economic science and, ultimately, the nature of human action and human society. There is a fundamental difference between Austrian School of economics’ perspective, conceiving social phenomena as teleological facts or events, and the mechanistic approach of neoclassical economists. This essential difference has an important impact on epistemological theses and methodological options made by the each of the two schools of economics, including ideas regarding the nature of economic laws. Finally, it is emphasized that the restoration of a comprehensive, unitary and realist perspective on human society and economic affairs requires a shift of focus in social science researches from a purely causal approach – that characterize, largely, mainstream economics – to a teleological approach of social phenomena.

ŒCONOMICA no. 3/2015
Keywords: nature of economic laws, Neoclassical School of economics, Austrian School of economics, Carl Menger, Léon Walras, human action
JEL: B00, B13, B40, B53
On the Nature of Economic Laws: Carl Menger and Léon Walras [Natura legilor economice în concepţia economiştilor Carl Menger şi Léon Walras]