Real World Economics

Methodological, Theoretical, and Critical Issues

Victor A. Beker (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina)

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English

Routledge
15 August 2025

Economic theory & philosophy; Political economy; Economic history

Series: Routledge Frontiers of Political Economy

The starting point of this book is that economics is an applied science: a tool to understand the real-world economy and a guide for economic policy. In contrast to the unrealistic and artificial models of neoclassical economics, the book argues that the point of departure for economic theory should be the real world with realistic assumptions being made. The book explores the theoretical underpinnings of this real-world economics including the concepts of similarity (the relationship between economic models and real-world phenomena), evolution (economic change is a historical process in which recurrent patterns of growth, maturation, and decline exist), and uncertainty (the absence of knowledge of the full set of circumstances faced and the probabilities associated with them). Adopting a real-world approach also means accepting that human beings are cognitively constrained. They do not optimize, they satisfy and, thus, a real-world economic theory should incorporate bounded rationality. This book is essential reading for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the economy, including readers from economics and across the social sciences. In this respect, it also includes some reflections on the failure of Third Way ideas to deliver on their promises. Having been incapable of changing the course impressed on the economy by the neoliberal experiment, that failure paved the way for a resurgence of nationalism, populism, and alternatives to liberal democracy, subjects analyzed in the last section of the volume.

By: Victor A. Beker (Universidad de Buenos Aires Argentina)
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 490g
ISBN: 9781032970233
ISBN 10: 1032970235
Series: Routledge Frontiers of Political Economy
Pages: 166
Publication Date: 15 August 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Victor A. Beker is a Professor at the University of Belgrano and the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He has been Director of the Economics Department at the University of Belgrano and of the Economics Program at the University of Buenos Aires. He got several prizes for his works in Economics. Former Associate Editor of the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. Author of several Economics books and papers. He is co-author of Modern Financial Crises, Springer (2015) and co-editor of The European Crisis, WEA Books (2016). He edited Alternative Approaches to Economic Theory (2019), Routledge and authored two of its chapters. He also authored Preventing the Next Financial Crisis (2021), Routledge; Economics, Social Science and Pluralism: A Real World Approach (2022), Routledge; Baumol’s Contribution to Telecommunications Regulation (2022), Emerald; and Economic Theory for the Real World (2024), Routledge.

Reviews for Real World Economics: Methodological, Theoretical, and Critical Issues

""Written by a tireless advocate for making economics reality-based, Real World Economics might just be Victor Beker’s best book yet. He issues a clarion call for a useful economics, one that is directly based on the world we live in, since only a real-world economics can adequately explain how our world works. It is a sad commentary on the state of economics that a new book must be prefaced ‘real world’ but hopefully this book will succeed in pushing economics out of the realm of fantasy. With AI, climate change, and a host of other problems/challenges besetting us, we have no choice: We need a real-world economics."" Jack Reardon, Founding Editor of The International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education and author of Questions for America: 2024 and Beyond (Routledge, 2025) ""Victor A. Beker’s book deals with methodological, economic and political thought. The book shows his knowledge of this thought and of the various articulations of economic analysis and policy, which is very deep and complete. Of specific interest are the chapters on methodological issues, having a very detailed and relevant contents."" Nicola Acocella, Emeritus Professor of Economic Policy since 2014 at the Sapienza University of Rome and vice-president of the ‘Società Italiana degli Economisti’ (Italian Economic Association) (2016–)