States Versus Markets: Understanding the Global Economy

Now in its fourth edition, this highly regarded and critically acclaimed textbook offers an authoritative introduction to international political economy. It is unique in offering an accessible, broad introduction to the development of the global economy from its inception to today's complex relationship between states and markets in the midst of economic crises.


Herman Mark Schwartz deftly shows that globalization is not a novel phenomenon but a recurrent process whereby markets have, since the 16th century, periodically redistributed economic activity. It links the production of goods and services in one region to the markets for those goods, and shows how this can lead to conflicts among states that try to create, enhance or subdue the markets.

Taking into account the continued rise of China, and the recent shift towards populism in the West, this book has been extensively rewritten and updated throughout. This is a thought-provoking text which will encourage upper level undergraduate and postgraduate students to think analytically about the inevitability of a global market influencing a state's policies and geo-economic position and to locate their own thinking within the IPE tradition.