classical economics
Laissez-faire school origins
Classical economics is the body of economic theory developed in the 18th and 19th centuries by thinkers like Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and John Stuart Mill.
It emphasizes free markets, limited government intervention, and the idea that economies naturally tend toward equilibrium through supply and demand.
Classical economics held that markets would self-correct without government interference.
The term often appears in contrast to Keynesian economics, which advocates greater state involvement.
- Adam SmithClassical economics founder
- wealth of nationsAggregate economic resources of countries
- monetarismEconomic focus on currency regulation
- capitalismPrivate profit-based economy
- tradeExchange of commodities
supply and demand · Mercantilism · free trade · Industrial Revolution · John Stuart Mill · division of labor · market forces · bank · Thomas Malthus · Malthus · profit · gold · liberalism · commodity · tariffs · scarcity · gold standard · equilibrium
classical economicsKeynesian economics
Spending-driven macroeconomic theory
Keynesianism · dirigisme · command economy · planned economy · socialist economics