The author argues that conventional economics ignores or marginalizes the role of power and politics which are crucial factors in conditioning the variable structure and performance of markets. Using a power‐based notion of politics and drawing on evidence from a wide range of different markets, he identifies market politics as a complex process involving four different types of power, which he labels π1 to π4: the politics of state involvement involving state power (π1); the politics of market organization involving internal associational power (π2); the politics of market structure involving economic power (π3); and the politics of social ‘embeddedness’ involving various forms of social/cultural/ideological power (π4). He argues that a clearer understanding of the complexities of market politics is of practical importance for policy relevant research and prescription.