Understanding the economy

Economists use to cut their scientific object of studies out of the reality by bringing into focus the sphere of production and distribution of goods and services leaving all the other social fields out though they are in reality of economic relevance. Economics is a specific approach to understand and explain the core principles, processes and structures within its limited focus. The perspective of this textbook, however, is holistic and aims at describing and interpreting the economic reality in its integration in social, environmental, political, technical, and legal networks resumed under the perspective of the all-embracing term culture. From a methodological point of view this perspective does not deny the analytic results of economics nor does it replace them by a new scientific approach, but offers a complementary, in its center historic view that tries to take into account that the economy is never isolated from the societal and natural environment. This book is directed to all who want to know the economy but need not study economics for that reason. Peter Bendixen is economist and cultural scientist. He was professor of economics at the Hamburg University of Economics and Politics until 1999 and director of research at the Studienzentrum Hohe Warte in Vienna until 2007. He is now lecturer in arts management at the Yeditepe University in Istanbul, Faculty of Fine Arts. He has published a large number of articles and several books, the last ones about Ökonomie der Entgrenzung (Economy Dissolving Limits) (2007) and Fastfood Ökonomie (The Fastfood Economy) (2008).