Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world today with GDP per capita of less than 400 dollars in 2016 and a colossal rate of monetary poverty (over 90% on the international poverty line). Yet nothing appears to have ever marked the country out for such a terrible fate. Far from it, in fact. Although the latest political crisis that started in early 2009 and found an electoral conclusion in late 2013 has played a role, it is a mere blip on the historical radar. Madagascar’s long-term economic trajectory is a real mystery, which raises farther-reaching questions as to what is behind the divergent development processes observed in the world today. Not only has per capita GDP been trending downward since 1960, but every time the country has set out on a growth path, it has been stopped in its tracks by a socio-political crisis that has shattered the hopes it raised.  This study sets out to find some answers to a mystery that seems to defy imitation elsewhere in the world. It proposes an interpretive framework for Madagascar’s very long-term trajectory (spanning nearly three centuries) by tracing the defining elements that have structured the country’s political economy. This involves an analysis of the economic phenomena taking into account the diversity of social players and their organisations, the nature of the accumulation regime(s)2 and any internal contradictions they may have, and the economic and social modes of regulation put in place in each period. The book throughout explores specific areas, testing the proposed framework to either confirm its relevance or identify its limitations and flaws.