Archaic usage for the
notion that
politics and
economics are inextricably intertwined.
It encompasses the belief that our economic choices are not inevitable or beyond our control, but are made to bring us close to a political vision of the relations of power in society.
At first, the division was political science and economics, but as pseudo-intellectual tells us, (see political science), political science was decided to be an inaccurate (or at least misleading) name and is presently referred to as "political studies".
The three elements of political economy are Land, Labor, and Capital.
See also factors of production.