Political Science 1020E Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Free Trade, Protectionism, Global Exchange
4 Feb 2016
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Document Summary
Political economy: the relationship between politics and economics. Economy influencing politics: voting based on class, money talks. Politics influences economics: impact of political rules on production, distribution, and exchange. Political science: offshoot of political economy and history late 19th and early 20th centuries. Markets not natural: markets are what society makes of them. Mercantilism national wealth and power through trade. Classical for adam smith, markets are: Inclined toward efficiency and equilibrium (as smith says, the invisible hand" of the market brings supply and demand into equilibrium) Best to leave the economy untouched by the state. The basis for a new science of society. Neoclassical economics as a mathematical science. Economics and political science go their separate ways. Rational choice: market man" as general model. Portrays capitalism as a system of class exploitation and treats social classes as the key economic factors. Two main classes: bourgeoisie capitalist class, owners of productive wealth, proletariats non-owners, subsist through selling labour power.
