2025/11/24 by Ian Coelho de Souza Almeida, Rafael Galvão de Almeida · 2 voices
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Economic Development and Digital Transformation #Economic Theory and Institutions #Economic and Business Studies
paper · doi:10.1017/s1053837225100734
openalex publication_date 2025/11/24 · openalex created_date 2025/11/25 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
The Methodenstreit dominated economic discourse in the late nineteenth-century Germany. In this context, one author stood out amongst the rest: Heinrich Dietzel. Dietzel proposed a theory and method, his Sozialökonomik (social economics), as a solution for the Methodenstreit . This reformulation was based in correcting what he perceived as mistakes of classical political economy that created confusion by not explaining what they saw as self-evident. His intention was to detach from the latest developments (both in British and German political economy) as well as from what he saw as erroneous criticism that, at the time, existed in German-speaking countries. This paper presents Dietzel’s perspective on the reformulation of classical political economy, focusing on the definition of an economic science, the proper method for theoretical statements, and the theory of value.