The world is too complex for anyone to ever hope to understand all of its interrelationships simultaneously. Yet small aspects of the world we live in can be represented by comprehensible models. This is why economists use models in their analysis and research. In Economic Models and Methodology, Holcombe examines the way in which models are used in economics, and makes specific methodological recommendations more restrictive than the methodological doctrine of pluralism.

Holcombe's book is not an encyclopedia of methodology, but rather an analysis of mainstream methodology, and an examination of the use of models in economics. Holcombe examines the role of assumptions in models, the use of empirical models in economics, and specific applications of models in both macroeconomics and microeconomics.