Political economy is commonly defined as that branch of social science dealing with the production and distribution of wealth. The political economy of science and technology would thus focus on the production and distribution of scientific knowledge and technological capabilities that affect "who gets what." Although students of political economy sometimes claim to be objective, ethical issues are intrinsic to the subject.

Technology associated with the industrial revolution stimulated the pioneering political economic inquiries of Adam Smith (1723–1790) and David Ricardo (1772–1823). Smith and Ricardo were particularly interested in public policies that would maximize wealth creation. With the integration of science into the industrial value chain during the second industrial revolution of the late nineteenth century, it too became a subject of political economic scholarship.

From Ethics to Political Economy

The word ethics typically connotes issues of personal choice. In the context of science and technology, one might...