Today's economics: one, no one and one hundred thousand

The paper employs the sense and structure of a famous novel by the Italian writer Luigi Pirandello, One, No One and One Hundred Thousand (Uno, nessuno e centomila), of 1926, to reflect upon the recent past, current status, and possible future appearance of economics. From an open/closed system perspective, the paper explores economics in relation to other social science disciplines in the epoch of economics imperialism, when it could reclaim a unitary identity for itself, and then the potential identity crisis occurring to economics during a prolonged phase of reverse imperialisms by other social sciences. Finally, the article provides elements to imagine a possible future of pluralism for the discipline based upon recognition of its now multifaceted identity.