Political Economy
Categories: Econ
There’s politics, and there’s the economy. We can and do study them separately, but to really get a full picture of each of them, it’s best to study them together. Politics influences what’s possible and what happens in the economy, and vice versa.
That’s why we have political economy: the study of everything politics and economics. We’ve got trade, industry, production (economics stuff), and we’ve got regulations, laws, and distribution of wealth...all the stuff that governments do to affect the flow of monies.
Political economy is what Adam Smith called his studies back in the day. “Economics” as a term and study on its own is a new thing...new, as in 19th century. Political economy is making a comeback though, at least in academic spheres where interdisciplinary research is all the rage. For instance, political economy might imply Marxian economics and Public choice economics, which marry the power structures of government and value structures together in different ways.
What are politics all about anyway, if not about resource reallocation? Keeping a level playing field? Imbuing trust and love from their constituencies? Well, they're trying, anyway.
