Methodological conflict : Simon, Samuelson and Friedman

Milton Friedman's 1953 essay "The Methodology of Positive Economics" has spawned a large body of secondary literature due largely to the controversial methodological claims it makes. This paper recounts Paul Samuelson's well-known and Herbert Simon's less well-known 1963 critiques of Friedman and their respective alternative methodological positions. The paper then makes the following case. Despite the fact that both critiques failed due to both authors misinterpreting key terms used by Friedman, Samuelson's critique gained substantial attention whereas Simon's did not. Notwithstanding this development, Simon's alternative conception of method is both superior to and a better representative of the economics discipline's methodological concerns. It is not problem-free, however, entailing methodological difficulties that still resonate today. As a postscript, the paper reflects on the nature of the Friedman-Samuelson-Simon debate and the unacknowledged role that methodology sometimes plays in disputes within the discipline.