Classical Theories
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
3-1-2013
Abstract
This chapter focuses on the classical economic theories that influenced modern economics in Western Europe and the United States. It considers two movements: the “classical political economy” associated with Adam Smith, whose work The Wealth of Nations is considered to be the origin of free market ideology, and neoclassical economics or “political economy”, with emphasis on thinking mainly about policy. It looks into the development of classical political economy in England by analyzing Smith's theories together with his followers, and describes how this affected economic policy in the United States. It considers the differences in labor practices between England and America and how this became the basis for the development of neoclassicism in the U.S., with one of its highest points being the passing of the Sherman Act.
Keywords
modern economics, England, United States, classical political economy, Neoclassical Economics, Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, sherman Act
Publication Title
The Making of Competition Policy: Legal and Economic Sources
Repository Citation
Hovenkamp, Herbert, "Classical Theories" (2013). Book Chapters. 37.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_chapters/37
https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199782796.003.0001
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199782796.003.0001