نشأ الاقتصاد السياسي طبيعيًّا مع توسّع التجارة، فحلّ محلّ المساومة الساذجة غير العلمية نظامٌ متطوّر من الاحتيال المشروع، وعلمٌ كاملٌ للإثراء.

“Political economy came into being as a natural result of the expansion of trade, and with its appearance elementary, unscientific huckstering was replaced by a developed system of licensed fraud, an entire science of enrichment.”Friedrich Engels — Collected works (1975)