Silvestri interviews McCloskey about her forthcoming book, ‘Beyond Behaviorism, Positivism, and Neo-Institutionalism in Economics’, critical of recent economics, especially of neo-institutionalism. Neo-institutionalism uses the ugly character ‘Herr Max U’ as its central idea: the elevation of Prudence to the only virtue. Institutions are mainly intermediate, not ultimate, causes in society. Ethics, rhetoric, identity, ideology, and ideas matter. McCloskey's turn to defending liberalism is in the background of her critique of behaviorism, positivism, and neo-institutionalism as anti-liberal, reducing the analysis of people to a model of childish slaves. Liberalism is the theory of non-slave adults. Of the big ideas of the past few centuries, only liberalism treats people with suitable dignity, and permits them to have a go, and make others rich. Neo-institutionalism shares the two sins of modern Samuelsonian economics: a devotion of mere existence proofs; and a deviation to arbitrary tests of statistical ‘significance’. And in its tale of a rise of ‘capitalism’, it shares the errors of amateur economic history. The better word for the modern economic world of the Great Enrichment – fully 3,000% increases in real income per person – is ‘innovism’. Neo-institutionalism, as the method of historical economics, must be replaced by ‘Humanomics’.

中文翻译：

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超越经济学中的行为主义、实证主义和新制度主义：与 Deirdre Nansen McCloskey 的对话

西尔维斯特里就她即将出版的《经济学中的行为主义、实证主义和新制度主义》一书采访了麦克洛斯基，该书批评了最近的经济学，尤其是新制度主义。新制度主义以丑陋的人物“Herr Max U”作为其中心思想：将审慎提升为唯一的美德。制度主要是社会中的中间原因，而不是最终原因。道德、修辞、身份、意识形态和思想很重要。麦克洛斯基转向捍卫自由主义是在她批评行为主义、实证主义和新制度主义为反自由主义的背景下，将人们的分析简化为幼稚的奴隶模型。自由主义是非奴隶成年人的理论。在过去几个世纪的大思想中，只有自由主义才能以适当的尊严对待人，让他们去尝试，让别人变得富有。新制度主义与现代萨缪尔森经济学有两个共同点：对单纯存在证明的执着；以及对统计“显着性”的任意测试的偏差。在它关于“资本主义”兴起的故事中，它分享了业余经济史的错误。对现代经济世界的大富翁——人均实际收入增加 3,000%——更好的词是“创新主义”。新制度主义作为历史经济学的方法，必须被“人本经济学”所取代。人均实际收入增加 000%——是“创新主义”。新制度主义作为历史经济学的方法，必须被“人本经济学”所取代。人均实际收入增加 000%——是“创新主义”。新制度主义作为历史经济学的方法，必须被“人本经济学”所取代。