Adolph Lowe's Paradigm Shift for a Scientific Economics: An Interpretive Perspective

A bstract . The economist Adolph Lowe has developed a methodological alternative, designated Political Economics , for the development of economic theory and the application of economic policy. In totality his system—with a methodology he calls instrumental—makes up a unity that can be seen as a logically derived paradigm shift for economics as a scientific discipline. Under it, by a democratic political process , some desired end-state is first consciously and systematically determined. Then economic means are instrumentally employed to bring about the economic and social behavior necessary to attain and maintain that end-state. Available knowledge and tools are useful for this model; however, there is no question that the approach raises significant technical, political and philosophical issues. But these are overshadowed by Lowe's paradigmatic vision, and its corollary modular framework of Political Economics.