Adam Smith is generally regarded as the father of economics and the father of political economy. But the term is usually attributed to the French economist Antoine de Montchrestien, who wrote the book “Traité de l`économie politique”, which translates into the contract of political economy. Most universities offer political economy as a specialization, either in economics or political science. Notable institutions include the University of Warwick, the London School of Economics, the Graduate Institute Geneva, the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies and the Balsillie School of International Affairs. In the late 19th century, the term “economics” gradually began to replace the term “political economy,” with the rise of mathematical modeling coinciding with the publication of an influential textbook by Alfred Marshall in 1890. [4] Previously, William Stanley Jevons, a proponent of mathematical methods applied to the subject, advocated economics for brevity and hoped that the term would become “the recognized name of a science.” [5] [6] The Google Ngram Viewer citation metrics suggest that the use of the term “economics” began to eclipse “political economy” around 1910 and became the preferred term for the discipline around 1920. [7] Today, the term “economics” generally refers to the narrow study of economics without other political and social considerations, while the term “political economy” represents a distinct and competing approach. Capital and labour are used to influence political processes and achieve the most beneficial political outcomes. Political behavior in an economy is shaped by: The term political economy is still commonly used to describe any government policy that has an economic impact. These include the interests of individuals and groups who are able to use their power to influence policy. Members of the government tend to promote their own economic and political interests that help them stay in power. People outside government are often more concerned about the results of implemented economic policies.

Public choice theory is a micro-fundamental theory closely related to political economy. He wrote about the workings of a self-regulating free market in his first book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments. His best-known work, “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” (or “The Wealth of Nations”), helped shape classical economic theory. It also served as a basis for future economists. Other important stages in the development of political economy are: political economy[1][2] is the study of production and commerce and their relationship to law, custom, and government; and with the distribution of national income and wealth. As a discipline, political economy emerged in the 18th century in moral philosophy to study the management of state wealth, where “politics” means the Greek word political and “economy” means the Greek word “okonomy” (household). Early works in political economy are generally attributed to British scholars Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, and David Ricardo, although they were preceded by the works of French physiocrats such as François Quesnay (1694–1774) and Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot (1727–1781). [3] The term political economy refers to a branch of the social sciences that focuses on the relationships between individuals, governments, and public policy. It is also used to describe the policies of governments that affect the economies of their nations.

Political economy, where it is not used as a synonym for economics, can refer to very different things. From an academic point of view, the term can refer to Marxist economics, applied public choice approaches emanating from the Chicago School and the Virginia School. In common parlance, “political economy” can simply refer to the advice that economists give to the government or the public on general economic policy or on specific economic proposals developed by political scientists. [6] A rapidly growing dominant literature of the 1970s extended beyond the economic policy model, in which planners maximize the usefulness of a representative individual to examine how political forces influence economic policy choice, particularly with respect to distributional conflicts and political institutions. [8] It is offered as a stand-alone field of study at some colleges and universities.