The recent financial crisis sparked a lively debate among economists about the state of economic sciences. Diff erent strands of economics become the subject of criticism, foremost neoclassical economics. Th e paper presents the development of orthodox economics, and shows its weakness in terms of the analysis of fi nancial crises. Th e basis of the criticism was primarily the fact that mainstream economics has not been able to predict fi nancial crises, let alone prevent them. Selected heterodox theories were presented in terms of their approach to the causes of fi nancial crises. It was pointed out that some economists are of the opinion that an interdisciplinary, holistic and heterodox approach to economics will allow for a much better explanation for this knowledge area of economic and social processes taking place in the world. If the theories are formulated in isolation from specifi c social context, cultural system and conditions of business practice then economics as a science cannot formulate predictive conclusions for economic policy.