This paper addresses the question “What does it mean to think critically about (political) economy?” by reconstructing systematically the answer which Max Horkheimer gave when he became the director of the Institute for Social Research in 1931. On the basis of the criteria defined by Horkheimer in the 1930s for a critical theory of (political) economy, the article assesses the critical character of recent philosophical approaches towards the (political) economy: business ethics and philosophy of economics; Post-Marxism (Louis Althusser, Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe and J.K. Gibson-Graham); and the works of current representatives of the Frankfurt School (Axel Honneth and Rahel Jaeggi).Este artigo aborda a questão “O que significa pensar criticamente sobre a economia (política)” por meio de uma reconstrução sistemática da resposta oferecida por Max Horkheimer ao se tornar diretor do Instituto de Pesquisa Social em 1931. Com base nos critérios definidos por Horkheimer nos anos 1930 para uma teoria crítica da economia (política), o artigo avalia o caráter crítico de abordagens filosóficas recentes sobre a economia (política): ética empresarial e filosofia da economia; pós-marxismo (Louis Althusser, Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe e J.K. Gibson-Graham); e as obras de representantes atuais da Escola de Frankfurt (Axel Honneth e Rahel Jaeggi).