It notes the inadequacy of the treatment given to this subject over the years by the different schools of economics, before going on to set out just why this dimension is essential to an understanding of system functioning. It also deals with the conceptual, methodological and economic policy implications of incorporating this dimension of analysis, and with its relevance to the effort to carry forward an agenda that addresses the economic dimensions of gender inequity. In order that everyone might understand it, the world has been represented in stylized and simplified forms. Capitalist societies are thus understood as a system of relationships between households, firms and the State.