Description:

Political economists are concerned with the allocation of scarce resources in a world of infinite wants and needs.
In order to allocate these resources, politics are used within a state to provide for the people.
Political economy is the study of the relationships between individuals and society, and more specifically, the relationships between citizens and states.
Machiavelli can be considered one of the first political economists as his works provided a link between a ruler and the state along with the use of power in this relationship. Likewise, Thomas Hobbes argued for the power of a sovereign leader because of his assumption that human beings are naturally bad.
John Locke and Adam Smith helped to provide the fundamental beliefs of liberalism, which is the belief that the state which governs least is the one which governs best.
As capitalism flourished in industrial countries in Europe, problems began to emerge from the economic system.