Emerging criteria from 'rhetorical' economics: A case study of the monetary approach to the balance of payments as applied to Thailand

The methodological debate involving a rhetorical analysis of economic arguments was reviewed and extended beyond the theoretical level in this dissertation. An evaluative mechanism derived from the methodological debate was employed to examine applications of the monetary approach to the balance of payments to the economy of Thailand. The application of the evaluate mechanism demonstrated that the monetary approach to the balance of payments reveals very little about the Thai balance of payments and obscures many aspects of the Thai economy important to an understanding of Thailand's balance of payments through its use of rhetorical devices, while claiming scientific objectivity. A thorough evaluation of the Thai external balance position brings into focus those important aspects of the Thai economy overlooked by the monetary approach to the balance of payments. The question of how the monetary approach to the balance of payments has gained such prominence in economics in spite its demonstrated weakness is also explored.