Introduces politics students to basic economic theorising; discusses the nature of markets; review contemporary discussions regarding the role of the state in the economy; provides a comparison of the relationship of states and markets in different political settings and historical contexts. Topics include: the state and the institutional foundations of markets; states and markets in the Great Depression; domestic and international monetary institutions; politics of Keynesian demand management; economics and politics of market bubbles; politics and policy in the financial crisis of 2007-2009; the Eurozone crisis.