1st Edition
Economics, Social Science and Pluralism A Real-World Approach
In the work of most classical economists – including Smith and Keynes – theory was often embedded in application. But from the second half of the last century on, mainstream economics styled itself as "pure" economics, where the theory is presented in a very abstract form detached from any application. This book maintains that economics is a social science whose mission is to explain and, when possible, predict, phenomena of the real-world economy. The book argues that the first step to restoring economics as a social science is to define what issues economics should address. Only after this research agenda is established should the appropriate methodology be chosen, not the other way around. In this respect, examples from other social sciences as well as from natural sciences are considered more appropriate models for economics rather than physics. Moreover, the need for a closer interaction with psychology, sociology and other social sciences is required to restore the discipline to that field instead of acting as a branch of applied mathematics. The book also argues for a more pluralist approach to economic education to enable prospective economists to understand real-world economic phenomena and potential policy solution. For this reason, a good economics education should necessarily include the study of economic history and of the institutional environment.
This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to see economics return to its origins as a social science.
Acknowledgements
PREFACE
Chapter 1. WHY ECONOMICS WENT ASTRAY
Chapter 2. THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD IN SOCIAL SCIENCES
Chapter 3. WHAT CAN ECONOMICS LEARN FROM OTHER SCIENCES?
Chapter 4. THE METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH IN THE CLASSICS
Chapter 5. MARSHALL AND WALRAS
Chapter 6. THE KEYNESIAN REVOLUTION
Chapter 7. THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION: FROM FRIEDMAN AND LUCAS TO ARROW-DEBREU
Chapter 8. FROM THE REAL BUSINESS CYCLE THEORY TO THE NEW KEYNESIANISM
Chapter 9. ECONOMICS AS A REAL-WORLD SOCIAL SCIENCE
Chapter 10. THE NEED FOR PLURALISM IN ECONOMICS
Chapter 11. NORMATIVE ECONOMICS
Chapter 12. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
APPENDIX
Biography
Victor A. Beker is Professor of Economics at the University of Belgrano and the University of Buenos Aires, both in Argentina. He has been Director of the Economics Department at the University of Belgrano and of the Economics Programme at the University of Buenos Aires, and has been awarded several prizes for his works in economics. A former Associate Editor of the Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization, he is also author of several economics books and papers.
"That economics desperately needs a new paradigm is finally recognized throughout the world in and out of academia. Neoclassical economists had nothing useful to say about the devastating financial crisis, the immense challenges of globalization, an inordinate level of inequality, the threat of ecological catastrophes, and the rise of right-wing anti-democratic populism. Thus, it should be evident to everybody that the neoliberal dogma has brought the world to a watershed moment. Beker’s masterful new book on real-world economics sheds light on how to reorient our thinking to avoid further disasters, shed neoliberal dogma, and become masters of our fate."
John Komlos, Professor Emeritus, University of Munich, author of Foundations of Real-World Economics
"Economics needs to analyse the major issues ranging from environmental degradation and the climate emergency, poverty and inequality, food security and financial crises, and aid policy development addressing these issues. This book challenges economists to broaden the scope of their discipline by restoring economic analysis as a social science through interdisciplinarity and study of history and institutional environment to . It shows how a pluralist approach to education, drawing on the many alternative schools of thought within economics and political economy, would enrich the understanding of economic phenomena."
Malcolm Sawyer, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Leeds, UK
