Publisher's Synopsis
Economics of Real-Lifeis possibly the first book attempting to introduce interested readers to the working of contemporary economies with special reference to India. Unlike most introductory books in economics its objective is not to concentrate on a prior logic based on untested (and untestable) premises, but to rely on the history of the evolution of human communities from the rudimentary state to the latest because economic activities - social interaction to provide the material basis for survival and to go beyond - is common to all. The book relies on 'capsule history' and 'thought experiments' as expository devises.
Part I, the analytical section of the book, therefore, starts with an isolated human community and expounds the nature of its economic activity (production) for survival and material progress emphasising that production is essentially human interaction with nature. From the first two chapters four 'analytical tools' are derived; ownership, authority, intermediation and asymmetry of information. The rest of the book uses these tools to logically trace the evolutionary process of the economy till it reaches its present manifestation as global capitalism.
The book, thus, is a rare instance of using real-life material, past and contemporary, and substantive logic to deal with the evolving complexity of the economy, society's arrangement to provision the material needs and progress of its members.
