Besides politics and economics, Global Political Economy also employs history, sociology, and other relevant social science disciplines to explain the interaction between the two systems of economics and politics.

Susan Strange offers a model that synthesizes politics and economics by means of a four-dimension structural analysis of the effects of political authority (including states) on markets, and, conversely, of market forces on states. 

The temporary suspension of the dollar’s convertibility into gold and oil price shocks in world markets.

Oil prices on world markets increased almost %400, gold prices increased steeply  and the value of the dollar dropped significantly.

Neither of those events could be explained by economics or politics alone. Economists and political scientists tend to approach reality from their alternative perspectives. Thus, while economists focus on issues of individual interest, efficiency and income, political scientists concentrate on the state. In the process, both analyses miss the dynamic interaction of markets and states that characterizes political economy.

The Chinese initiative called “One Belt, One Road” are indications not only of economic cooperation efforts but also deep political motivations.

Mercantilism, economic liberalism, and Marxism are the three theoretical perspectives.

According to the mercantilist worldview, politics drives economics, which could be summarised as; politics has total supremacy over economics.

Alexander Hamilton and Fredrick List were two well known supporters of mercantilism.

The neo-mercantilist perspective came up with a new concept in the 1980s, Strategic trade policy.

Liberalism places great emphasis on liberty and holds that individuals must be encouraged to make their own choices. Individuals should be left free in their economic activities, that they should have the right to freely sell and buy in the market and start their own businesses. 

In a free market environment, prices connect buyers and sellers, and an invisible hand (prices) regulates markets in the best available way.

Lenin extended Marx’s ideas and argued that as capitalism decayed in the most advanced states, the drive for profit and new markets would lead capitalists inevitably to search for imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism. This would result in competition between advanced capitalist states and to conflict over potential colonial territories.

The major complaints of the USA about Chinese government are; it supports domestic enterprises by refunds, exemptions from taxes and it keeps the value of its currency low.

It has been speculated that by 2050 the economy of Brazil, Russia, India, and China would be wealthier than most of the current major economic powers. China and India will become the world’s dominant suppliers of manufactured goods and services, while Brazil and Russia will become similarly dominant as suppliers of raw materials”.

In Geneva, Switzerland, representatives of 23 countries met in 1947 to establish the postwar world trading system. The legal framework created was called the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). 

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) gives prominence to ten key emerging technology trends. These are; big data, the internet of things, artificial intelligence, additive manufacturing, nano/microsatellites, neurotechnologies, synthetic biotechnology, nanotechnology materials, advanced energy storage technologies, blockchain.

Exchange rates are determined in the same way as any other commodity: in global markets, through the supply of and demand for foreign currency.

The Bretton Woods system has been characterized as a global economic system constructed by the United States. The system also needed the United States to play a political and economic hegemonic role. 

The Bretton Woods system fell down with the collapse of the gold standard and International Monetary Fund members have been free to choose any form of exchange arrangement they wish except fixing their currency to gold.