This book seeks to provide a better understanding of the state, the law, social norms, and the role of policy advise. It subscribes to the discipline of positive political economy, but also looks at the social situations that lie beyond economics and politics. It is divided into the five parts. Part I presents a primer on game theory. Part II raises the argument than an economy or market is embedded in a social setting, with all its attendant norms, institutions, and beliefs. Part III explores the idea of “the state” and laws. Part IV discusses selected topics on welfare economics. Part V argu ... More

This book seeks to provide a better understanding of the state, the law, social norms, and the role of policy advise. It subscribes to the discipline of positive political economy, but also looks at the social situations that lie beyond economics and politics. It is divided into the five parts. Part I presents a primer on game theory. Part II raises the argument than an economy or market is embedded in a social setting, with all its attendant norms, institutions, and beliefs. Part III explores the idea of “the state” and laws. Part IV discusses selected topics on welfare economics. Part V argues that human beings do not use their rationality calculus over all available actions but only over a subset of them.