‘Positive economics’ refers to the view that economic theories consistent with all conceivable observations are empirically empty and that empirically useful theories need to be consistent with existing observations (thus passing the ‘sunrise test’) and predict something new. It is neither logical positivist, nor operationalist, nor naïve falsificationist; nor is it based on strict dichotomies between positive and normative statements and between positive analysis and normative advice. It rejects the views that theories can assist understanding the world without making refutable statements about it; that theories can be criticized only on their own terms; and that all distinctions inhibit useful discourse.