This course examines a world which is changing with bewildering speed, a world of financial crisis, Great Recession, global imbalances, and threatening political developments. It begins by introducing students to the classical origins of political economy as a field of study, and to the main intellectual debates and theories in the (international) political economy literature. The aim is to demonstrate a systematic relationship between the dynamics of markets and shifting patterns/institutions of governance. The second part turns to empirical analysis and debates about issues in public policy in the past and present at the domestic and international level, exploring the political economy of some of the important policy issues of our times against a historical background. These issues will include the problem of industrial production and world trade, monetary issues, financial markets, and underdevelopment among others. Care will be taken to carry the theoretical material over into the empirical analysis, and to devote sufficient attention to the current financial crisis, its origins, and the reform debate. (T&H)