What Is Meant by Economic Schools of Thought?

Question: What Is Meant by Economic Schools of Thought?

Answer: Web Wordnet defines a school of thought as a "doctrine, philosophy, philosophical system, school of thought, ism -- (a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school)". Thus in economics, a school of thought can be thought of as a belief or system of beliefs held by some group of economists. Do not take the word "school" too literally, most often the economists belong to a certain school of thought do not reside in the same geographic area, though some schools of thought have been linked to particular universities, such as the University of Chicago.

Very roughly speaking, each school of thought differs by the set of economic phenomena they wish to explain, the economic methodology used, and the assumptions (either explicit or implicit) used in order to explain those economic phenomena.

The most detailed website I've seen on economic schools of thought is the The History of Economic Thought website. They've got dozens of pages on such schools of thought as the classical school, the monetarist school, the Keynesian school, and Austrian economics, just to name a few.

Be sure to visit the Macroeconomic Schools of Thought page on this site, which contains links to five major schools of thought in macroeconomics: Neoclassical, Keynesian, Austrian, Marxist, and Open Economy Macroeconomics.