„This paper argues, contrary to the commonly held view, that Weber’s blueprint has limited relevance for contemporary economic sociology and heterodox economics because Weber had a rather limited and static understanding of rationality and economics. Uncertainty, both as a basic fact of economic life and in interpreting what rational action means in particular contexts, is absent from his approach. After a brief discussion of the secondary literature on Weber's methodology, the paper focuses on Weber’s major writings on methodology and economics.

It becomes apparent that Weber shared a rather narrow, neoclassical understanding of the Austrian school. His central category of goal-directed behavior as the most important methodological starting point for analyzing human action actually presupposes the idealized assumption of perfect knowledge. His understanding of market exchange processes, price formation, and competition is rather conventional and elementary. Weber's genius did not come to bear in the field of economics, but primarily in his sociology of religion, law and rule.“ (H. Peukert)