- "Its main thinkers are held to be Adam Smith, Jean-Baptiste Say, David Ricardo, Thomas Robert Malthus, and John Stuart Mill."
Economic thought that focuses on the role of markets and how they allocate resources efficiently. It is associated with economists such as Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and John Stuart Mill.
- "The fundamental message in Smith's book was that the wealth of any nation was determined not by the gold in the monarch's coffers, but by its national income."
- "The division of labour and the use of accumulated capital."
- "The classical economists were pragmatic liberals, advocating the freedom of the market, though they saw a role for the state in providing for the common good."
- "Smith acknowledged that there were areas where the market is not the best way to serve the common interest."
- "He warned repeatedly of the dangers of monopoly, and stressed the importance of competition."
- "The classical economists were advocates of free trade, which distinguishes them from their mercantilist predecessors, who advocated protectionism."
- "The designation of Smith, Ricardo and some earlier economists as 'classical' is due to a canonization which stems from Karl Marx's critique of political economy."
- "He critiqued those that he at least perceived as worthy of dealing with, as opposed to their 'vulgar' successors."
- "There is some debate about what is covered by the term classical economics, particularly when dealing with the period from 1830 to 1875, and how classical economics relates to neoclassical economics."