This textbook covers the syllabus of the papers on economy, state and society of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Economics in India. It also covers the topics under the paper on history of economic thought taught in some colleges/universities.

The book explains the emergence, evolution and working of the capitalist system with the help of some of the major principles and theories of economics, both mainstream and heterodox. It interrelates economics and economic life with other aspects of our lives-social, cultural, political, religious and intellectual.

This book departs from the traditional analysis of the capitalist system in integrating the real sector of the economy with its monetary sector, and carries forward Keynes' analysis. It combines Keynesian and Marxian approaches to the subject and emphasises the dialectical unfolding of life that underlies the interrelation between the economy, state and society. It underlines that the capitalist system is constantly changing, propelled by the tendency towards increasing concentration of ownership and control of the means of production in fewer and fewer hands.

The book comes with an Instructor's Manual to aid the teaching of the subject.