I propose to reconstruct Neurath's early economic theory as a genuinely theoretical, academic contribution to the epistemological controversies which were going on in the not yet well defined field of social science and economics before World War 1, rather than as an early, preparatory stage of his later ideas on socialism (as a planned economy in kind). Emphasizing the difference between his early theory and his later political activism can help us spell out the philosophical impact of Neurath's highly original theoretical approach to economics and how his conceptual innovations there are related to his later contributions to logical empiricism. Tracing Neurath's thought back to the debates on the subject matter of economics and social science before World War 1, also helps us to reconstruct the issues of these earlier debates that disappeared during the 'short" 20^th century.