Contemporary academic economics, a project often acclaimed as the most scientific of all the social sciences, is in a state of some confusion. Its 'theoretical models' are increasingly found to be irrelevant to real world matters, its empirically based forecasting models do not forecast particularly well, and those who provide commentaries on the discipline report a significant disparity between the pratices of economists and the 'methodologies' they draw upon. Many who reflect seriously on the situation conclude that, despite widespread pretensions to the contrary, there are few grounds for supposing that economics can be a science at all. In an innovative and wide-ranging contribution, Tony Lawson concludes that at the root of these probelems is a failure of economists to develop methods that are appropriate to their subject matter. In taking radical steps to compensate, the author demonstrates that a radical transformation in their basic pratcices and overall direction of that discipline is warranted. Part 1: Science and Economics 1. Enduring Tensions as points of departure, 2. Realism, Explanation and Science, 3. The Case for Transcendental Realism, 4. The Legacy of Positivism, 5. The Nature of t