History and Political Economy

The book examines the history and theoretical development of Political Economy, one of the most important scholarly disciplines to emerge from the European Enlightenment, and the subject which provided the basis for the later disciplines of Economics, Business Studies and International Political Economy and all forms of analysis which incorporate the study of overlapping economic and political relationships within and between states and civil societies.

The arrangement of the book is linear and historical, tracing the discipline from its earliest manifestations when Political Economy carried much of the meaning of modern Economics (the study of wealth creation via rational actions in the free market place) though to its modern meaning of the economic and political interactions of state and civil society and how classes, and/or interests compete to realise contested economic policies. The underlying approach is analytical, tracing through the various methodological and philosophical elements which tie together and separate the changing faces of Political Economy over the past 350 years, covering the recurring contested themes of the subject including: states and markets; power theories; models of capitalism; models of development and internationalisation/ globalization.

Crucially, the central significance of the discipline of Political Economy, with its allied historically based method, has been underlined in the wake of the recent global financial meltdown, which has reemphasised its analytical relevance in today's globalised world, given the manifest failings of recent mathematical economics and business modelling in analysing the inherent potential for global market failure.

Cartea examineaza istoria si dezvoltarea teoretica a economiei politice, una dintre cele mai importante discipline stiintifice care au iesit din iluminismul european si subiectul care a stat la baza disciplinelor ulterioare de economie, studii de afaceri si economie politica internationala si toate formele de analiza care incorporeaza studiul relatiilor economice si politice suprapuse intre si intre state si societatile civile. Aranjamentul cartii este liniar si istoric, urmarind disciplina de la primele sale manifestari atunci cand economia politica avea o mare parte din sensul economiei moderne (studiul a crearii bogatiei prin actiuni rationale pe piata libera), desi in sensul sau modern al interactiunilor economice si politice ale statului si societatii civile si modul in care clasele si / sau interesele concureaza pentru a realiza politici economice contestate.