What is Political Economy?

Political economy studies the intersection of the state and market institutions and actors. There’s no such thing as “free” markets; the state must allocate property rights, smooth exchanges, and solve market failures. Ideally, the state helps create new markets with an eye toward fostering innovation while minimizing the negative externalities that sometimes accompany market exchanges.

Listen to this podcast in which Rachel Heath (UW Economics), James Long (UW Economics), Beatrice Magistro (University of Toronto Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society), and Victor Menaldo (UW Political Science) discuss these ideas.

Political Economy and Contemporary Public Policy Challenges

Pundits now blame disruptive technologies for a host of social ills and harms to civic well-being, from the spread of conspiracy theories and online radicalization due to algorithmic amplification to cloud computing susceptible to election tampering. There’s a lack of global consensus and collective action about how to address these problems. The Forum helps academics and policymakers figure out how to move forward on the pressing issues of our time, both tech and non-tech related.

Check out our numerous podcast episodes, Op-eds, and working papers on these issues!