the ideas of classical economists and its present contributions

The Ideas of Classical Economists and its
Present Contributions

Student ID: B1001804
Lecturer : Dr James Nayagam

Synopsis
The purpose of this work is to examine and understand the main thoughts of prominent economists during the classical period, namely Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. It is also included the comparison of ideas between these masters and last but not least, the contributions of these ideas in today’s context.
At the beginning, the background of the classical period is provided to ensure that readers have a better understanding of the economist’s ideas. Followed by that, each economists ideas will be discussed respectively, and the comparison will be made. The contributions of Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Thomas Malthus will be discussed in the last part and conclusion would be drawn.

Content Page
No.
Title
Page number
1
Introduction
4
2
Background
4
3
The Five Prominent Economists
Adam Smith
Thomas Malthus
David Ricardo
Jeremy Bentham
John Stuart Mill

5
6
6
7
7

4
Comparison of Ideas between the Five Economists
8
5
Contributions of Classical School in Contemporary
9
6
Conclusion
10
7
Bibliography
11
8
Appendices
12

Introduction
Classical school started during the late 18th century, when Adam Smith published his work, Wealth of Nations. It is a very important work that established economics as an independent field of study and set forth the development of modern economics. Their ideas such as division of labour and comparative advantages are still discusses and implied in today’s world.
The work of this paper is to examine the main thoughts of five leading economists of classical period, namely Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, Jeremy Bentham and John Mill and to compare their thoughts and concepts. Also, the relevance of contributions of their ideas in today’s context will be

Bibliography: 1. Brue, S.L. & Grant, R.R. (2007) The History of Economic Thought. 7th ed. United States: Thomson. 2. Ekelund, R.B. & Hebert, R.F. (2007) A History of Economic Theory and Method. 5th ed. Illinois: Waveland Press. 3. Giuseppe. (2009) Tenets of Classical Economics, 31 Jan [Online]. Available at: http://www.politonomist.com/tenets-of-classical-economics-00875/ (Accessed at: 12 August 2012) 4. Rothbard, M.N. (2012) Jeremy Bentham: From Laissez-Faire to Statism. An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought, 16 Feb [Online]. Available at: http://mises.org/daily/5870/ (Accessed: 11 August 2012) 5. Nayagam, J. (2012) The Classical School(2): The Thoughts of David Ricardo; Bentham; Say; Senior and John Mill. Kuala Lumpur: HELP University College. Appendix: 1. According to the classicists, the lingering feudal institutions and the restrictive controls of mercantilism were no longer necessary…. If the Divine Will had created a mechanism that worked harmoniously and automatically without interference, then laissez-faire was the highest form of wisdom in social affairs. Natural laws would guide the economic system and the actions of people. (Brue and Grant, 2007:p.45-46) 2. Specifically, he saw three major funtions of government: (1) to protect society from foreign attack, (2) to establish the administration of justice, and (3) to erect and maintain the public works and institutions that private entrepreneurs cannot undertake profitably. (Brue and Grant, 2007:p.70) 3. It is often difficult to ascertain the proportion between two different quantities of labour… But it is not easy to find any accurate measure either of hardship or ingenuity. (Ekelund and Hebert, 2007:p.109)