political economy

American  

noun

1. a social science dealing with political policies and economic processes, their interrelations, and their influence on social institutions.

2. (in the 17th–18th centuries) the art of management of communities, especially as affecting the wealth of a government.

3. (in the 19th century) a social science similar to modern economics but dealing chiefly with governmental policies.

4. economics.

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political economy British  

noun

1. the former name for economics

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Other Word Forms

• political economist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of political economy

First recorded in 1605–15

Example Sentences

"Unless the international community directly resources the Puntland institutions that police this coastline, neither the immediate threat nor the political economy sustaining it gets resolved."

From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026

That’s the hypothesis of one of the world’s shrewdest and most respected analysts of geopolitics and energy, Cambridge University political economy professor Helen Thompson.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 11, 2026

“This ‘military-bonyad complex’ is the fundamental glue of Iran’s political economy and underpins the state’s economic power,” it said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026

I asked sociologist Randolph Hohle, an expert on race, culture and political economy, for his thoughts on the Yale Youth Poll and the conundrum of young people’s shape-shifting politics in this era of crisis.

From Salon • May 8, 2025

The books were of the most varied kind—history, geography, politics, political economy, botany, geology, law—all relating to England and English life and customs and manners.

From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker