Economics, because it studies activity and price relationships and the effects of scarcity, grew out of political economy. It is often used "in" political economy to argue policy effects and study the results of actions, and it is often "in opposition" to political economy, in that many, if not most, practicing economists see political economy as being a hindrance to the operation of economic forces. From the point of view of political economy, economics is a branch of the entire study, and economics has, at its basis, a theory of political economy which should be open to examination.