ABSTRACT
Political economy, a term dating from the fifteenth century, today represents both conservative and radical perspectives of economic, political, and social phenomena. This anthology explores the parameters of political economy as it has developed from the work of Marx, Veblen, Keynes, and Sraffa. By political economy we mean an analysis that looks beyond the construction of a model built upon the desires of individual consumers and firms pursuing individual interests. The political economy of concern to us is an interdisciplinary study of the simultaneous and dynamic changes in economic, political, and social institutions and relations. It meters historical time rather than logical time as its frame of reference. Its basic units of analysis are individuals with interrelated and interdependent interests that act as groups or classes in conflict, not as harmonious, autonomous individuals. People's ideological and material existences are endogenously produced in systematic ways. The role of political economy is to define the groups, their systemic interrelations, and their consequent impact on political, economic, and social structures, practices, and outcomes. Some of the more salient commonalities and dissimilarities will be explored later in this introduction.
