Consolidation: Metatheory on Theory Structure and Theory Development in the Ohlin-Samuelson Research Programme

Using the historical material thus far presented, as well as the theory of theory development gradually introduced, we can now come to list five characteristics of the Ohlin-Samuelson research programme: AThe programme is based upon (is “governed” by) a set of fundamental (neoclassical) concepts and convictions, a set which previously *) was denoted by (neoclassical) Foundation of Economic Analysis (FEA). The concepts are, ordered somewhat from “primitively defined” to “defined in terms of all other concepts”: good, man, utility, production, exchange, factor, exchange ratio, money, price, utility function, production function, marginal utility, marginal productivity, indifference curve, isoquant, and equilibrium **). The convictions have been described in Al, A2, B2.2., B2.4., and culminate in a belief in a tendency towards a General Equilibrium defined in terms of the concepts and yielding a mathematical structure which maps any data set on an equilibrium set (section B.2.4.2.). The coherence of the FEA led to the use of such vague, intuitive notions as “spectacles” and, last but not least, “world view”.