The Structure and Operation of Modern Economies

This book is about the economy rather than economics. It explores the structures, inner workings and problems of modern economies, showing how the organisations and networks that shape the structure of the economy are arranged to provide society with goods and services.

At the centre of the analysis there is the economic system, characterised by organisational components carrying out economic functions (production, consumption, distribution, and establishment and control of the economic activities as well as provision of public goods and services) and by a co-evolving dynamic with the state. The economic system is thus a ‘machine’ that modern states have organised through their laws and international agreements. The book incorporates a historical approach which reveals the varieties, structure and evolution of capitalism as the defining economic system of the modern age. Ultimately, the book demonstrates that the economic sphere and the political sphere are the two powers ruling people’s lives: the economy is the result of their interactions.

This book will be of great interest to readers in political economy, economics, sociology and political science.

Author Biography

Alessandro Romagnoli is Alma Mater Professor of the University of Bologna (Italy), where he taught economics of the firm, economic development in the Middle East and North Africa and economic system analysis. His research interests encompass productive processes and firm structural evolution in agricultural and industrial sectors, the development process of the Middle East and North Africa and the structure of economic systems.