His closest followers ("Smithians") are Dr. J. Anderson, Earl of Lauderdale (1759-1838), T. Malthus, T. Took, Colonel Robert Torrens (1780-1864), Sir E. West and J. H. Marcet. Smith laid out a logical system that explained the operation of the free market in terms of internal economic mechanisms rather than external political control.
A new stage in the development of the classical school is marked by the figure of D. Ricardo with his development of the concept of value, original theories of land rent and international trade. D. Ricardo's immediate followers included the English economists J. Mill, J. R. McCulloch, and T. de Quincey; in addition, U. Senior and G. Martino are referred to as "Ricardians".
The labor theory of value led to the emergence of a group of economists who advocated a class that earned money through labor. These scientists are known in history under the name "Socialist-Ricardians". Among them are T. Godskin, William Thompson (c.1785 - 1833), Charles Hall (1745-1825), John Gray (1799-1850), John Francis Bray (1809-1895).
The economists who supported the classical school in continental Europe (Continental Classicals) were the Frenchman J. B. Say, the Swiss J. Simon de Sismondi and the German economist F. von Hermann.
The final stage of the evolution of the school is represented by the work of J. S. Mill, in whose works the principles of the classical school were finally embodied in economic theory.
In classical economic theory, the economy has the ability to self-regulate and make full use of its resources, and any production is organized in order to increase consumption.
Reasons for the appearance
Before the foundations of the classical school in economics in society, the opinion about the need for state intervention in the economy dominated. It was believed that this was the only way to form the wealth and well-being of the state. However, since the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th centuries, the ideas of non-intervention of the state in the economic life of society, that is, economic liberalism, have been formed.
It was at this time that a new theoretical school of economic thought was born. Later it would be called classical political economy.
Representatives of the classical school re-formulated the subject and method of studying economic theory. The growth of manufacturing (and then industrialization) brought industrial production to the fore, which pushed aside commercial and loan capital. Hence, the sphere of production came to the fore as a subject of study.
The time of its completion is considered from two theoretical and methodological positions. Thus, the Marxist position establishes the period of completion of development in the first quarter of the 19th century, and the English scientists A. Smith and D. Ricardo are considered to be the school's finalists. According to another - the most common in the scientific world - the classics exhausted themselves in the last third of the 19th century. the works of J. S. Mill.
The end of the era of the "classics", the stage of classical political economy (in addition to the above, other naming and dating of stages can be found in the literature) does not mean the end of political economy in general, as a science. On the contrary, as in many other sciences, the “classical stage” is only a “high start” in the life cycle of science, opening the next, no less rich pages of its history. The most famous and prominent representatives of this trend were the Scottish scientist Adam Smith (1723-1790) and the Englishman David Ricardo (1772-1823). A. Smith headed the Department of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow, then worked as the Chief Customs Commissioner for Scotland. He was the author of many works on economics and philosophy. But his main world-famous work was An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). In this work, A. Smith gives a comprehensive description of the economic system of society, considers the theory of value, the theory of income distribution, the theory of capital and its accumulation, the economic policy of the state, public finances, and gives a detailed criticism of mercantilism. He managed in his book to combine most of the existing trends economic research.
All the economic phenomena considered by A. Smith are based on the labor theory of value. The value of a commodity is created by labor, regardless of the branch of production. The labor embodied in commodities is the basis for exchange. The price of a commodity is determined by the labor costs of its production, as well as by the ratio of supply and demand for the commodity.
A. Smith gave a detailed analysis of the main incomes of society - profits, wages and ground rent - and defined the value of the social product as the sum of the incomes of society. The social product embodies the wealth of the country. The growth of wealth depends on the growth of labor productivity and on the share of the population engaged in productive labor. In turn, labor productivity largely depends on the division of labor and its specialization.
When considering economic phenomena and processes, the classics of political economy adhered to a certain system of general premises. Chief among them were the concept of "economic man" and economic liberalism (economic freedom). They considered a person only from the point of view of economic activity, where there is the only incentive for behavior - the desire for one's own benefit.
The idea of economic liberalism was based on the idea that economic laws act like the laws of nature. As a result of their action, "natural harmony" is spontaneously established in society. The state does not need to interfere with the operation of economic laws. The principle of economic liberalism and free trade is expressed by the famous slogan "laissez faire, laissez passer" (rough translation into Russian: "Let people do their own thing, let things take their course".) In other words, it is the principle of non-intervention of the state in economic activity. The expression has become a symbol of classical economic theory. In foreign trade economic liberalism means free trade, with no restrictions on exports and imports. Such a foreign economic policy was called free trade (from the English free trade - free trade).
According to the classics, economic laws and competition act like an "invisible hand". As a result, resources are redistributed for efficient (full) use, prices for goods and resources change rapidly, and a balance is established between supply and demand.
Literature
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See what "Classical Political Economy" is in other dictionaries:
Classical political economy- (classical economics), a system of economics, theories set forth in the writings of economists (Ch. ob. Brit.) from Smith (The Wealth of Nations, 1776) to Mill (Fundamentals of Political Economy, 1848). Biggest Contribution into the theory of K.p.e. contributed Smith, Jean Baptiste Say (1767 ... ... Peoples and cultures
CLASSICAL POLITICAL ECONOMY- originated in England in the 17th century. Its founder is W. Petty. In the XVIII century. it was developed by A. Smith, and then in the first quarter of the 19th century. was completed by D. Ricardo. The founder of the school K. p. e. in France - P. Boisguillebert. Its provisions were developed in their works ... Economics from A to Z: Thematic guide
The science that studies the laws that govern the production, exchange, consumption and distribution of material goods in society at different stages of its development. The term "P.e." formed from three Greek words: "politeia" social structure, "oikos" ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia
P. e. a science that studies social relations that develop in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material goods, and the economic laws that govern their development in historically successive social ...
A trend in bourgeois economic thought that arose during the period of the formation of the capitalist mode of production and the undeveloped class struggle of the proletariat (18th century). Its representatives for the first time began to study the capitalist ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
- (subject and definition of science, its place among other sciences, tasks and methods, historical essay economic schools). The subject of P. economy as a science is human economic activity, that is, expedient activity aimed at ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron
For the branch of science, see Economics, Economic theory, Political Economy. Bourgeois political economy is an independent category in the history of economic doctrines, introduced by Karl Marx when differentiating directions, schools and ... ... Wikipedia
Marxist political economy is a direction in economic theory, which is based on the labor theory of value (Adam Smith, David Ricardo), which Karl Marx expanded with the theory of surplus value. This direction was developed ... ... Wikipedia
A system of anti-scientific bourgeois economic theories that describe the outward appearance of economic processes in order to defend capitalism apologetically. V. p. e. gives a scientific form to the ordinary ideas of the bourgeois about ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Books
- Classical political economy. Modern Marxist direction. A basic level of. Advanced level. Issue 155 , Buzgalin A.V. After the global financial and economic crisis of 2008-2009. interest in the world and in Russia in the theoretical heritage of Karl Marx and classical political economy has increased dramatically, but ...
1. The history of economic doctrines originates from the period of occurrence: simple
1) natural economic ideology
2. The study of the history of economic doctrines reveals that economic science is characterized by: average
2) non-unidirectional development
3. The study of the history of economic doctrines allows you to better understand in the development of economic science its: simple
3) past and present
4. The subject of studying the history of economic doctrines covers economic theories: simple
3) individual economists and schools of economic thought
5. The spokesmen of the economic thought of the pre-market era idealized: simple
2) natural-economic relations
6. The final stage of the era of economic doctrines of the pre-market economy was the stage: simple
1) mercantilism
7. The displacement of the previous stage or direction of economic thought by a new (alternative) stage or direction in the history of economic doctrines occurs: average
3) even before the end of the existence of a particular stage or direction
8. The stage of idealization of the principles of "pure" economic science took place in the era of economic doctrines: average
2) unregulated market economy
9. Hammurabi's laws regulated debt slavery with the aim of:average
5) prevent the destruction of the foundations of natural economy
10. Aristotle refers to the sphere of chrematistics:average
4) usury and trade and intermediary operations
11. In accordance with the economic views of Aristotle and F. Aquinas, money – This:simple
2) the result of an agreement between people
12. According to the concept of “fair price” by F. Aquinas, the cost (value) of a product is based on:average
4) h costly and moral and ethical principle at the same time
1. At the stage of the priority role in the economic science of mercantilism, the concept dominated:simple
1) protectionism
2. The subject of study of mercantilism is:simple
3. Priority method of economic analysis of mercantilism
is: simple
1) empirical method
4. InIn accordance with the economic views of the mercantilists, wealth is: simple
1) gold and silver money
5. In accordance with the mercantilist concept, the source of monetary wealth is:average
5) excess of exports over imports
6. The government was engaged in damage to the national coin during the period:simple
1) early mercantilism
7. According to the mercantilists macroeconomic balance provided in the country:simple
1) coordinating measures of the state
8. Colbertism – is a characteristic of protectionist policy in the economy, as a result of which the capacity of the domestic market: simple
3) A. Montchretien
1. At the stage of the priority role in the economic science of classical political economy, the concept dominated: simple
2) economic liberalism
2. subject fromthe teachings of classical political economy are:simple
2) sphere of production (offers)
3. In classical political economy, the priority method of economic analysis is:simple
2) causal method
4. In In accordance with the economic views of representatives of classical political economy, wealth is:
3) money and goods having a material essence
5. According to classical political economy, money – This:simple
3) a technical tool, a thing that facilitates the exchange
6. According to classical political economy, wages, as a worker's income, gravitate:average
2) to the living wage
3) quantity theory of money
8. W. Petty and P. Boisguillebert – founders of the theory of value, defined by:simple
1) labor costs (labor theory)
9. According to the classification proposed by F. Quesnay, farmers represent:simple
1) productive class
10. According to the teachings of F. Quesnay about the "pure product", the latter is created:average
5) in agricultural production
12. A. Turgot considers labor to be the only source of all wealth:average
2) farmer (farmer)
13. According to A. Smith, capital invested adds more value to real wealth and income:average
4) in agricultural production
14. "Invisible hand" by A. Smith – This:difficult
2) the operation of objective economic laws
15. According to the methodological position of A. Smith, private interest:average
2) stands above the public
16. In the structure of trade, A. Smith put in the first place:difficult
1) domestic trade
17. According to A. Smith, in every developed society the cost of goods is determined by:average
3) the amount of income
18. A. Smith considers labor productive if it is applied:simple
2) in any branch of material production
19. In the capital structure, A. Smith identifies the following parts:simple
2) fixed and working capital
20. The thesis "Smith's fabulous dogma" arose from K. Marx due to the fact that A. Smith: difficult
3) identifies the principle of identifying the value of the "annual product of labor" and "the price of any commodity"
21. N.S. Mordvinov, being a follower of the economic teachings of A. Smith, considers the source of the origin of wealth: average
4) industry, trade and science at the same time
22. A.K. Storch, being a follower economic doctrine A. Smith admits the productive nature of labor: average
3) in material and non-material production
23. In accordance with the economic views of M.M. Speransky "gradual improvement of the public" involves the implementation of economic policy: average
3) protectionism and economic liberalism at the same time
1. When determining the cost, D. Ricardo adheres to:simple
1) labor theory
2. According to D. Ricardo, wages tend to decrease, because:average
2) high birth rates give rise to an excess supply of labor
1) as income from the land
2) the same as the farmer's profit
3) as well as profit in the industrial sector
4) as an additional income of the farmer in excess of the average profit in
field of activity
5) as a "free gift of the earth"
4. The downward trend in the rate of profit, according to D. Ricardo, is caused by the following reasons: difficult
2) decline relative level"market price of labor"
3) an increase in the relative level of the "market price of labor"
4) an increase in the high cost of land products due to a constant decrease in its
fertility
5) population decline
6) Increasing Population Rate
5. The main postulates of the "law of markets" Zh.B. Seya are: difficult
1) demand creates a corresponding level of supply
2) supply creates a corresponding demand
3) money as the most important independent factor in the reproduction process
4) money is neutral
5) prices, wage and the interest rate is completely flexible,
mobile
6) state intervention in the economy is allowed
7) economic crises are impossible or their manifestation is always temporary and transient
6. "Say's Law" has exhausted its relevance with the emergence of economic doctrine: simple
4) J.M. Keynes
7. According to the theory of population of T. Malthus, the main causes of poverty are: difficult
1) imperfection of social legislation
2) constantly high population growth rates
3) unchanged low level wages
4) excessively high rates of scientific and technological progress
5) "the law of diminishing soil fertility"
8. The theory of population of T. Malthus from among the following authors was categorically rejected: difficult
1) D. Ricardo
2) S. Sismondi
3) P. Proudhon
5) J.S. Mill
6) K. Marx
7) A. Marshall
9. According to T. Malthus, "third parties" in the reproductive process manifest themselves as: difficult
1) the productive part of society
2) unproductive part of society
3) a factor contributing to the creation and implementation of public
product
4) factor constraining the full use of capital
5) a factor preventing general overproduction
2) D. Ricardo
3) J.S. Mill
4) K. Marx
5) T. Malthus
1) change the laws of production
2) change the laws of distribution
3) limit the right to inherit
4) abolish wage labor with the help of a cooperative productive association
5) overthrow the system of private property
6) socialize land rent with the help of land tax
7) to improve the system of private property for the sake of participation in the income it brings to each member of society
12. The only representative of classical political economy characterizes the category "capital" as a means of exploiting the worker and as a self-increasing value: simple
4) K. Marx
13. Which of the following causes, according to K. Marx, the tendency of the rate of profit to decrease: difficult
1) the transfer of capital from one occupation to another
2) an increase in the high cost of land products due to a decrease in its fertility
3) an increase in the relative level of wages of workers
4) a decrease in the share of variable capital in the capital structure
5) capital accumulation accompanied by an increase in the structure
capital share of permanent capital
14. Which of the listed variants of the provisions is guided by
K. Marx, if we assume that surplus value is created: average
1) labor, capital and land
2) unpaid labor of productive workers
3) constant capital
4) variable capital
15. In the theory of reproduction of K. Marx, such provisions are substantiated as: difficult
1) the cyclical nature of economic development under capitalism
2) the non-cyclic nature of economic development under capitalism
3) differences between simple and extended types of reproduction
4) the legitimacy of the doctrines of economic crises of underconsumption
5) transient nature economic crises under capitalism
16. A.I. Butovsky, as one of the Smithians of the post-manufacturing period, considers the definition of value possible on the basis of: average
2) cost theory
17. I.V. Vernadsky, as one of the Smithians of the post-manufacturing period, considers the definition of value possible on the basis of: average
1) labor theory
18. Being one of the opponents of the Marxist economic teachings of P.B. Struve believes that Russia should become a country: simple
3) rich capitalist
1. Romantic economists put forward reformist concepts that substantiate the expediency of priority development: simple
4) small commodity production
2. The reason for minimizing the wages of workers S. Sismondi considers: simple
3) displacement of workers' labor by machines and mechanisms
3. Of the following, directly P. Proudhon owns ideas about expediency: difficult
1) the leading role in the economy of public property
2) the organization of the banks of the people
3) the abolition of money and the creation of constituted value
4) preference for the functional method over causal analysis
5) introduction of an interest-free loan
6) liquidation of state power
4. According to utopian socialists, property should have priority in the economy: simple
3) nationwide
5. The historical school of Germany considers as a subject
economic analysis: simple
6. S.Yu. Witte, as a supporter of the methodology of the German historical school, substantiates the proposition that: simple
2) the public interest must take precedence over the interest of the individual
1. Marginalism (marginal economic theory) is based on
study: simple
3) marginal economic values
2. The subject of study of the subjective-psychological direction of economic thought is: simple
1) sphere of circulation (consumption)
3. The priority method of economic analysis of the subjective-psychological direction of economic thought is: simple
4) the theory of marginal utility
1. The subject of study of the neoclassical direction of economic thought is: simple
3) the sphere of circulation and the sphere of production at the same time
2. Priority method economic analysis neoclassical direction of economic thought is: simple
3) functional method
3. A. Marshall's term "representative firm" characterizes the type of firm: simple
3) medium
4. The cost of goods A. Marshall is characterized on the basis of:
1) identifying the point of intersection of supply and demand curves
3) J.B. Clark
6. The criterion for achieving general economic equilibrium, according to V. Pareto, should be considered: simple
1) measuring the ratio of preferences of specific individuals
7. In accordance with the economic views of N.Kh. Bunge cost is determined by: average
3) supply and demand
8. In accordance with the economic views of M.I. Tugan-Baranovsky and V.K. Dmitriev, the determination of the cost is possible on the basis of: average
3) the synthesis of labor theory and the theory of marginal utility
1. At the stage of the priority role in the economic science of institutionalism, the concept dominated:simple
3) social control of society over the economy
2. As a subject of economic analysis, representatives of institutionalism put forward: simple
5) a combination of economic and non-economic factors
3. Priority research methods in institutional theory are: average
1) causal
2) historical and economic
3) functional
4) empirical
5) logical abstraction
6) social psychology
4. The concept of the Veblen effect characterizes the situation of the influence of consumer behavior on growth demand due to:simple
1) with an increased price level
1) the transition to the "industrial system"
6. According to J. Commons, the cost is formed: simple
1) legal agreement of "collective institutions"
7. Of the following stages in the evolution of "capitalism", J. Commons identifies the following: average
1) free competition capitalism
2) money economy
3) financial capitalism
4) credit economy
5) administrative capitalism
8. The antitrust concepts of T. Veblen and J. Commons were first tested: average
4) during the "new course" of F. Roosevelt
9. U.K. Mitchell is the founder of one of the currents of institutionalism, called: simple
2) market-statistical
10. The economic doctrine of W.K. Mitchell was the basis for: simple
4) the concept of a crisis-free cycle
11. Market theories with imperfect competition arose: simple
1) after the world economic crisis of 1929-1933.
12. In the theory of monopolistic competition by E. Chamberlin, the main sign of "product differentiation" is the presence of a product of one of the sellers of any significant feature, which can be: average
5) both real and imaginary
13. According to E. Chamberlin, monopolistic competition gives rise to the phenomenon of excess capacity, due to the formation of seller prices: average
3) exceeding costs
14. In conditions of imperfect competition, according to J. Robinson, the size (capacity) of firms: simple
1) exceed the optimal level
1. From the following provisions, the basis of the research methodology
J.M. Keynes are: difficult
1) priority of microeconomic analysis
2) priority of macroeconomic analysis
3) the concept of "effective demand"
4) adherence to the “law of markets” J.B. Say
5) investment multiplier
6) propensity for liquidity
2. To stimulate consumer demand for investments, the state, according to J.M. Keynes, should actively promote the regulation of the rate of interest on loans: simple
1) downward
3. In accordance with the "basic psychological law" J.M. Keynes with the growth of income, the growth rate of consumption: simple
5) increase, but not to the same extent as income
4. Neoliberalism, unlike Keynesianism, suggests: difficult
government measures to invest unprofitable and low-
profitable sectors of the economy
2) liberalization of the economy
3) growth in government orders, purchases and loans
4) free pricing
5) priority of private property
5. The term "social market economy" was first used by: simple
3) A. Muller-Armac
6. The Freiburg school of neoliberalism in the concept of the social market economy adheres to the following principles: difficult
competition wherever possible, regulation where necessary
automatic functioning of the "free market economy"
synthesis between free and "socially obligatory public
4) concentration of power and collectivism
5) social equalization through fair distribution
7. The leader of the Chicago school of neoliberalism, M. Friedman, in his concept of state regulation of the economy, considers the following principles to be fundamental: difficult
1) prioritization of non-monetary factors
2) priority of monetary factors
3) the stability of the "Phillips curve"
Phillips curve instability
stability of the growth rate of the amount of money, taking into account the "natural
unemployment rates" (ENB)
are: average
1) J.M. Keynes
2) V.V. Leontiev
3) E. Chamberlin
4) P. Samuelson
5) M. Friedman
9. The main scientific achievement of the Russian Nobel Laureate in Economics L.V. Kantorovich is the development of: average
1) linear programming models in the process of using resources
Introduction
Classical political economy is an economic trend of the late 18th - early 19th centuries, designed to solve the problems of free private enterprise.
Classical political economy gave economic theory a truly scientific character. First, it discovered the real source of the wealth of society - the process of production. Secondly, political economy began to explore economic activity as a system that encompasses the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of services and goods. Thirdly, this science did not limit itself to describing phenomena (for example, the exchange of goods for money) and moved on to revealing their essence and the laws of development.
Classical political economy replaced the era of mercantilism. The characteristic features of classical political economy are the following:
Classical political economy is based on the labor theory of value.
The main principle is "laissez faire" ("let things take their course"), that is, the state's complete non-intervention in economic issues. In this case, the "invisible hand" of the market will ensure the optimal allocation of resources.
The subject of study is mainly the sphere of production.
The value of a good is determined by the cost of its production.
The person is seen only as economic man”, which strives for its own benefit, to improve its position. Morality, cultural values are not taken into account.
The elasticity of the number of workers with respect to wages is higher than unity. This means that any increase in wages leads to an increase in the number of employees. work force, and any decrease in wages - to a decrease in the size of the labor force,
The purpose of the entrepreneurial activity of the capitalist is to maximize profits.
The main factor in increasing wealth is the accumulation of capital.
Economic growth is achieved through productive labor in the sphere of material production.
Money is a tool that facilitates the exchange of goods.
This thesis will address the following questions:
historical conditions of occurrence;
general characteristics of classical political economy;
reasons for the emergence of classical political economy;
what stages are covered by classical political economy;
characterization of the stages of classical political economy;
founders and representatives of classical political economy and their economic views and teachings.
1. General characteristics of the classical direction
1.1. Historical conditions for the emergence of classical political economy
Economics has a long and rich history. People have always been not indifferent to processes that directly or indirectly affect their level of well-being. Therefore, reflections on economic life accompanied them from the moment of its inception 1 .
The historical conditions which prepared the way for the emergence of classical political economy (the classical school) took shape primarily in England 2 . Here, faster than in other European countries, the process of primitive accumulation of capital was completed. The foundations of manufactory production were laid, which received great development already in the 17th century.
As a result of the aggravation of social contradictions in 1640, a bourgeois revolution began in England, which put an end to the feudal-absolutist system and accelerated the development of capitalist relations. As a result of this, together with the growth of manufacturing production, the development of foreign trade expansion, England in capitalist development has significantly outstripped other European countries.
In France, where the feudal system was preserved until the last third of the 18th century, capitalism fought its way through with great difficulty.
William Petty (England) and Pierre Boisguillebert (France) are at the origins of classical political economy.
A great contribution to the development of the classical school was made by Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Thomas Robert Malthus (England), Jean Baptiste Say, Francois Quesnay, Anne Robert Jacques Turgot (France).
The process of development of the classical school was completed by the works of John Stuart Mill and Karl Marx.
1.2. Reasons for the emergence of classical political economy
During the formation of the foundations of market economic relations in Western Europe and America, it became more and more obvious that state intervention in the economy is not the only means in shaping the wealth of the state and achieving consistency in the relationship of economic entities in the domestic and foreign markets.
P. Samuelson 4 notes that the displacement of "pre-industrial conditions" by the system of "free private enterprise", contributing to the decomposition of mercantilism, became at the same time the starting point for the onset of the conditions of "full laissez faire". This means the demand for complete non-interference of the state in the economy, in business life - economic liberalism.
From the end of the 17th century to the beginning of the 18th century, this idea became the motto of market liberal economic policy. It was from this time that a new theoretical school of economic thought was born. Later it will be called classical political economy. The "classical school" waged a decisive struggle against the protectionist policy of the mercantilists. She opposed the empiricism of the mercantilists - professionalism, the achievements of science of that time, launched fundamental theoretical research.
In essence, the "classics" re-formulated the subject and method of studying economic theory. The growth of manufacturing (and then industrialization) brought industrial production to the fore, which pushed aside commercial and loan capital. Hence, the sphere of production came to the fore as a subject of study.
As a method of study and economic analysis, the latest methodological techniques were introduced, which provided sufficiently deep analytical results, a lesser degree of empiricism, descriptiveness, and superficiality in understanding economic life.
In the times of the ancient Greek philosophers, the term "economy" was translated as "household" - in the sense of the process of housekeeping, family management, personal household. During the mercantilist period, economics, which, thanks to A. Montchretien 5, received the name "Political Economy" (1615) 6, became the science of the state economy, managed by the monarch. During the period of the classical school, economics acquired the features of a scientific discipline that studies the problems of the economy of free competition. The term "classical political economy" was introduced by K. Marx, proceeding from the fact that the "classical school" with its characteristic class orientation "explored the production relations of bourgeois society."
1.3.Stages of development of classical political economy
General signs and features of the evolution of classical political economy are characterized by the stages of its development. Conventionally, there are four stages.
The first stage: the middle of the 17th - the beginning of the 18th century - the appearance of the works of W. Petty in England and P. Boisguillebert in France, in which signs of a new doctrine are formed, later called classical political economy.
In the first half of the first stage, the authors: sharply condemn the protectionist system that restricts the freedom of enterprise; make the first attempts at costly interpretations of the cost of goods and services by taking into account the amount of labor time and labor spent in the production process; emphasize the priority importance of liberal economic principles in the creation of national (non-monetary) wealth in the sphere of material production.
The second half of the first stage falls in the middle - the beginning of the second half of the 18th century, and is characterized by the emergence of a specific trend of the "classical school" - physiocratism.
Physiocrats (F.Kene, A Turgot and others) significantly advanced economic science, outlined a new interpretation of a number of micro- and macroeconomic categories. But their attention was riveted to the problems of agricultural production to the detriment of other sectors of the economy and especially the sphere of circulation.
At the first stage, not a single representative of classical political economy, not being a professional economist, was able to create a holistic theory of the development of production - industrial and agricultural.
The second stage is completely connected with the name of the great scientist-economist Adam Smith. The most significant achievement of economic science in the last third of the 18th century is his brilliant work The Wealth of Nations (1776). His "economic man", "invisible hand" convinced for centuries of the natural order and objectivity of existing economic laws, regardless of the will and consciousness of people.
The laws discovered by Smith - the division of labor and the growth of labor productivity - are classical. His interpretations of the commodity and its properties, money, wages, profits, capital, productive labor and others underlie modern economic concepts.
The third stage is the entire first half of the 19th century. It is associated with the industrial revolution - the transition from manufacturing to machine production, to factories and factories, to industrial production, primarily in England and France. The students and followers of A. Smith - D. Ricardo, T. Malthus, J.B. This, and others, made an enormous contribution to the treasury of the "classical school". Each of them left a noticeable mark in the history of economic thought.
The fourth stage is the final stage in the second half of the 19th century, which was dominated by the works of J. S. Mill and K. Marx. They summarized the best achievements of the "classical school". During this period, the formation of "neoclassical economic theory" began, but the last leaders of the classical school, being strictly committed to the position on the effectiveness of pricing in a competitive environment and condemning class bias and vulgar apologetics in economic thought, in the words of P. Samuelson "sympathized with the working class and were converted" towards socialism and reforms.
2. The first stage in the development of classical political economy
2.1. William Petty - father of classical political economy in England
William Petty 7 (1623-1687) - the founder of classical political economy in England, published his works in the 160s-80s of the 17th century. K. Marx wrote that W. Petty is "the father of political economy... the most brilliant and original researcher-economist." 8
Major works: "Treatise on Taxes and Fees" (1662), "Word of the Wise" (1664), "Political Anatomy of Ireland" (1672), "Political Arithmetic" (1676), "Something About Money" (1682), etc. . 9
In all the works, the rejection of the protectionist ideas of the mercantilists is traced as a red thread: wealth, in his opinion, is formed not only by precious metals and stones, including money, but also by the land of the country, houses, ships, goods and even home furnishings; wealth is created primarily by labor and its results: "labor is the father and the active principle of wealth, and the earth is its mother" 10 . He denied the “special” role of money in economic life and clarified that if any state resorts to damaging coins, then this characterizes its decline, the dishonorable position of the sovereign, the loss of public confidence in money; the ban on the export of money abroad is meaningless and impossible, this act of the state is tantamount to a ban on the import of imported goods into the country.
Among the many progressive ideas of W. Petty, the following are distinguished:
1) the first author of the labor theory of value, which became one of the main features of classical political economy as a whole, in which he tried to reveal the nature of the origin of the value of goods, as well as the reasons that affect their level of value in the market. “The value of a commodity is created by the labor of extracting silver and is its “natural price”, 11 and the value of commodities, ascertained by equating with the value of silver, is their “true market price”. Or: the value of a commodity is due to the participation in its creation of labor and land, i.e. he bases the price of goods on the cost approach.
2) the author of a number of provisions on the income of workers, owners of money capital and landowners, which became the basis for further research by D. Ricardo and T. Malthus, following W. Petty, characterized wages as the price of a worker's labor, representing the minimum means for his subsistence and his family . He characterized the incomes of entrepreneurs and landowners by the universal concept of "rent", understanding by it the difference between the cost of grain and the costs of its production, i.e. replacing the concept of producer profit.
3) explored the problem of determining the price of land, which is due to the location of the land and the market - “near populated areas, for the subsistence of the population of which large areas are needed, the lands not only bring higher rents, but also cost a larger amount of annual rents than lands of exactly the same quality but located in more remote areas. The author of the idea of the relationship between loan interest and annual land rent.
4) a supporter of the quantity theory of money, demonstrated an understanding of the patterns of the amount of money needed for circulation - "... money in itself does not constitute wealth."
Considering the state of society and science of that time, W. Petty naturally did not avoid fundamental mistakes in his works: criticism of mercantilism is accompanied by tendentious considerations - he completely biasedly denies the participation of trade and merchant capital in the creation of national wealth (the opposite extreme), insists on reducing a significant part of merchants, whom he compares with "players involved in the distribution of the blood and nourishing juices of the state" (agricultural products); at the heart of the price of goods in each of the interpretations of its essence lies only the cost approach, i.e. dead end; a number of concepts proposed by him are unreasonably simplified and distort their essence. So, the concept of "rent" unified by him is simplified to the limit. It is the replacement of rent by profit, by interest on loans. Considering the essence of the origin of loan interest, he states that this indicator should be equal to "the rent from such and such amount of land that can be bought with the same money given in a loan, under the condition of complete public safety."
Thus, William Petty took a big step forward in the development of economic theory.
2.2. The rise of the classical school in France. P. Boisguillebert and his "Indictment of France". Economic doctrine of F. Quesnay
Pierre Boisguillebert 12 (1646-1714) is considered the founder of the classical school in France.
The first reformist (anti-mercantilist) judgments were published anonymously in 1695-1696 in the book “A detailed description of the situation in France, the reasons for the decline in her welfare and simple ways to restore, or how to deliver to the king all the money he needs in one month and enrich the entire population.” It is based on criticism of the economic policy of mercantilism by Jean Baptiste Colbert, Minister of Finance under Louis XIV.
In 1707 published a two-volume essay "The Accusation of France", which was banned for sharp criticism of the government. Having removed sharp attacks, leaving not so much evidence as persuasion and incantations about the need for economic reforms, he reprinted the book three times. During his lifetime, he did not receive recognition for his ideas.
In the center of P. Boisguillebert's research are the problems of the development of agriculture, in which he saw the basis of economic growth and wealth of the state. Under the influence of his ideas for 100 years, physiocracy (the power of nature, Greek) flourished in the economic thought of France - a trend of classical political economy, whose representatives considered land and agricultural production to be decisive in creating national wealth.
The scientific merits of P. Boisguillebert: his works became the toretic-methodological basis for the final debunking of mercantilism and the formation of specific traditions of the French classical school; independently of W. Petty, he came to the conclusion that the country's wealth does not lie in the physical mass of money, but in the whole variety of useful goods and things 13; Analyzing the mechanism of the price relationship between goods on the market, taking into account the amount of labor expended and working time, he substantiated the labor theory of value, which, despite the costly method, was progressive for its time.
At the same time, P. Boisguillebert: deliberately absolutized the role of agriculture; underestimated the role of money as a commodity; denied the real importance in increasing the property wealth of industry and trade; the only one among all representatives of classical political economy who considered it possible and necessary to abolish money, which violates the exchange of goods at "true value".
In classical political economy, two schools were formed - the French (Physiocrats) 14 and the English. François Quesnay was the founder and leader of the Physiocrats in France.
Francois Quesnay 15 (1694-1774) in 1758 created his "Economic Table", which became the basis for the physiocrats, who turned to the sphere of production, looking for a source of surplus value there. They limited this area to agriculture only.
In his famous "Economic Table" F. Quesnay performed the first scientific analysis of the circulation of economic life, i.e. social reproduction process. The ideas of this work testify to the need to observe and reasonably predict certain national economic proportions in the structure of the economy. He revealed the relationship, which he characterized as follows: “Reproduction is constantly renewed by costs, and costs are renewed by reproduction”
Further, Quesnay put forward the concept of "natural order", by which he understood an economy with free competition, a spontaneous play of market prices without state intervention. Quesnay also argued that when exchanging things of equal value, wealth is not created and profit does not arise, so he was looking for profit outside the sphere of circulation.
3. The second stage in the development of classical political economy
3.1. A. Smith - the central figure of classical political economy
Adam Smith (1723-1790) is the greatest English economist of the second half of the 18th century, the central figure of classical political economy. According to M. Blaug, A. Smith is the author of "the first full-fledged work in economics that sets out the general basis of science."
The main work "Study on the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" (1776), immortalized the name of the author, was reprinted during his lifetime four times and three times until the end of the century. Under the influence of the ideas of A. Smith, the Prime Minister of England, W. Pitt Jr., declared himself his student and in 1786. signed the first Liberal Trade Treaty (Treaty of Eden) with France, which significantly changed customs tariffs.
A. Smith's student Dougall Stuart in 1801 began to teach the first independent course of political economy at the University of Edinburgh, formerly part of the course of moral philosophy.
A. Smith considered the central problem and subject of study of economic science economic development society and improve its well-being.
A. Smith proves that the wealth of peoples is not in money, but in material (physical) resources, which are provided by "the annual labor of each people." "The annual labor of every nation is the initial fund, which supplies it with all the products necessary for the existence and convenience of life" 16 .
He develops this idea with the concept of the growth of the division of social labor, which has become the doctrine of technological progress as the main means of increasing the wealth of "any country at all times."
3.2. Features in the research methodology of A. Smith
The greatness of A. Smith as a scientist lies in his economic forecasts and fundamental theoretical and methodological positions, which for more than 100 years predetermined the direction of development of scientific economic thought and the economic policy of many states.
The central place in the methodology of A. Smith's research belongs to the concept of economic liberalism - non-intervention of the state in entrepreneurial activity. The concept is based on the idea of natural order, i.e. market economic relations. “Market laws can best affect the economy when private interest is higher than public interest, i.e. When the interests of society as a whole are considered as the sum of the interests of its constituent persons.
In developing this idea, Smith introduced the winged concepts of "economic man" and "invisible hand" 17 .
The essence of "economic man": "dogs do not consciously change bones with each other" - "the division of labor is the result of a certain inclination of human nature to trade and exchange" - "he ("economic man") will more likely achieve his goal if he turns to their egoism (other people) and will be able to show them that it is in their own interest to do for them what he requires of them. Anyone who offers another a deal of any kind is offering to do just that. Give me what I want, and you will get what you want—that is the meaning of any such offer... It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their own interests. We appeal not to their humanity, but to their selfishness, and never tell them about our needs, but about their benefits. A. Smith's "economic man" is an egoist who strives for personal enrichment through the production and sale of a quality product or service.
The essence of the “invisible hand”: “each individual ... has in mind his own benefit, and by no means the benefits of society ... and in this case, as in many others, he is directed by an invisible hand towards a goal that was not at all included in his intentions ... in pursuing his own interests, he often serves the interests of society more effectively than when he consciously seeks to do so. The meaning of the "invisible hand" is to promote such social conditions and rules under which, thanks to the free competition of entrepreneurs and through their private interests, the market economy will best solve social problems and lead to harmony of personal and collective will with the greatest possible benefit for everyone.
Thus, the main thing in Smith's methodology is the "obvious and simple system of natural freedom", which, thanks to the "invisible hand", is always automatically balanced.
The state remains, as A. Smith writes, “three very important duties”: 1) the cost of public works in order to “create and maintain certain public buildings and public institutions”, provide remuneration for teachers, judges, officials, priests and others who serve the interests of the "sovereign or state"; 2) the costs of ensuring military security; 3) the costs of the administration of justice, including the protection of property rights.
It was A. Smith who formulated the main task of science: “... the main task of the political economy of each country is to increase its wealth and power; therefore it should not give preference or special encouragement to foreign trade in commodities in preference to domestic trade, or transit trade rather than to both.”
3.3. Theoretical legacy of A. Smith
1) In The Wealth of Nations 18, A. Smith explores the problem of the division of labor and, using the example of a pin factory, proved that the division of social labor increases the productivity of social labor “at least threefold” (increase in the qualifications of workers performing one simple operation, saving time during the transition from one operation to another, the invention of devices, mechanisms, machines).
2) In the theory of cost (value) of goods and services, A. Smith noted in each product use and exchange value. By consumer, he understood not marginal utility, but full utility - the ability of a product to satisfy a person’s need, and not specifically, but in in general terms. Revealing the essence of exchange value in The Wealth of Nations, he first writes that “it is more natural to evaluate their exchange value (of commodities) by the quantity of some commodity, and not by the quantity of labor that can be bought with them,” and on the next page he emphasizes “commodity which is itself subject to fluctuations in its value (gold and silver), can by no means be an accurate measure of the value of other commodities. And he concludes that the value of the same amount of worker's labor "at all times and in all places" is the same and therefore "it is labor that constitutes their real price (of goods), and money constitutes only their nominal price."
3) In the concept of productive labor, A. Smith understands productive labor as labor that “increases the cost of the materials it processes” and “is fixed and realized in some separate object or product that can be sold and that exists at least , some time after the work is finished" (for example, food). And unproductive labor is a service that “disappears at the very moment of its provision” and “adds nothing to value ... has its own value and deserves a reward ... is not fixed and is not realized in any separate object or product that is attractive for sale". Modern economic science rejects the basic postulates of this concept.
4) A. Smith's theory of money is not distinguished by any new provisions, but attracts with the scale and depth of analysis, logically reasoned generalizations. Money appeared "as barter ceased"; "labour, and not any particular commodity or group of commodities, is the real measure of silver (money)." A. Smith considers money, like all the classics, only as a technical tool for exchange, trade, putting their function as a medium of exchange in the first place.
5) A. Smith's income theory - the annual product is distributed among three classes: workers, capitalists and landowners. The income of workers - their salary - is directly dependent on the level of national wealth of the country. Unlike the physiocrats, he denied the so-called regularity of reducing wages to the level of the subsistence minimum. On the contrary, he argued that "when wages are high, we will always find the workers more active, diligent and intelligent than when wages are low" and warned that "masters are always and everywhere in a kind of silent, but constant and uniform strike with aim not to raise the wages of the workers above their existing level” 20 . About rent, he writes the following: food is "the only agricultural product that always and necessarily gives some rent to the landowner." And he aptly notes - "the desire for food is limited in each person by the small capacity of the human stomach."
6) A. Smith's theory of capital is more progressive in comparison with the physiocrats. Capital is one of the two parts of stocks, and "the other part is that which goes to direct consumption." Unlike the physiocrats, according to A. Smith, productive capital is capital employed in the entire sphere of material production, and not only in agriculture. It was he who introduced the division of capital into fixed and circulating.
4. The third stage in the development of classical political economy
4.1. The economic doctrine of D. Ricardo
All economic system Ricardo 21 arose as a continuation, development and criticism of Smith's theory. At the time of Ricardo industrial revolution was in the initial stage, the essence of capitalism was far from being fully manifested. Therefore, the teachings of Ricardo continue the ascending line of development of the classical school.
The peculiarity of Ricardo's position is that the subject of political economy for him is the study of the sphere of distribution. In his main theoretical work, Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, Ricardo writes, referring to the distribution of the social product: "To determine the laws that govern this distribution is the main task of political economy." One might get the impression that on this issue Ricardo takes a step backwards compared to A. Smith, since he puts forward the sphere of distribution as the subject of political economy. However, in reality this is not at all the case. First of all, Ricardo will by no means exclude the sphere of production from the object of his analysis. At the same time, Ricardo's emphasis on the sphere of distribution aims to single out the social form of production as its own subject of political economy. And although Ricardo did not bring the problem to its full scientific solution, the importance of such a formulation of the question in the works of the finalist of the classical school can hardly be overestimated.
In the works of Ricardo, in fact, an attempt is outlined to single out the production relations of people, in contrast to the productive forces of society, and to declare these relations their own subject of political economy. Ricardo actually identifies the entire set of production relations with distribution relations, thereby significantly limiting the scope of political economy. Nevertheless, Ricardo gave a deep interpretation of the subject of political economy, came close to the mysteries social mechanism capitalist economy. He was the first in the history of political economy to base the economic theory of capitalism on the labor theory of value, which reflects the general relations most typical of capitalism, namely commodity relations.
The new thing that Ricardo introduced into the labor theory of value is due, first of all, to a change in the historical situation, the transition of manufacturing capitalism to machine-level capitalism. An important merit of Ricardo is that, relying on the labor theory of value, he came closer to understanding the single basis of all capitalist incomes - profit, land rent, interest. Although he did not discover surplus value and the law of surplus value, however, Ricardo clearly saw that labor is the only source of value and, consequently, the incomes of classes and social groups, not participating in production, are actually the result of the appropriation of someone else's unpaid labor.
Ricardo's theory of profit is characterized by two major contradictions: 1) the contradiction between the law of value and the law of surplus value, which resulted in Ricardo's inability to explain the origin of surplus value from the point of view of the law of value; 2) the contradiction between the law of value and the law of average profit, which was expressed in the fact that he failed to explain the average profit and the price of production from the standpoint of the theory of labor value.
The main drawback of D. Ricardo's theory is his identification of labor power as a commodity with its function - labor. Thus, he avoids the problem of clarifying the essence and mechanism of capitalist exploitation. But, nevertheless, Ricardo comes quite close to the correct quantitative determination of the price of labor, in fact, the value of labor power. Delimiting the natural and market prices of labor, he believes that under the influence of supply and demand, the natural price of labor is reduced to the cost of a certain amount of means of subsistence, necessary not only for the maintenance of workers and the continuation of their kind, but also to a certain extent for development. Consequently, the natural price of labor is a value category.
According to Ricardo, the market price of labor fluctuates around the natural price under the influence of natural movement working population. If the market price of labor exceeds the natural one, the number of workers increases significantly, the supply of labor increases, at a certain stage increasing the demand for it. Due to these circumstances, unemployment arises, the market price of labor begins to fall. Its fall continues until the size of the working population begins to decline, the supply of labor decreases in accordance with the magnitude of the demand for it. At the same time, the market price of labor decreases in relation to the natural one. Thus, D. Ricardo's interpretation of the natural price of labor is rather contradictory.
David Ricardo was the consummator of bourgeois political economy precisely because the scientific truths he revealed became increasingly socially dangerous for the political and economic positions of the ruling class.
4.2. The economic doctrine of Jean Baptiste Sey
The official economic science in France in the first half of the 19th century was represented by the “Say 22 school”. The "Say School" praised the capitalist entrepreneur, preached the harmony of class interests, and opposed the labor movement.
In 1803, Say's book, A Treatise of Political Economy, or A Simple Statement of the Way in which Wealth is Produced, Distributed, and Consumed, was published. This book, which Say subsequently revised and supplemented many times for new editions (during his lifetime there were only five of them), remained his main work. The labor theory of value, which the Scot followed, although not quite consistently, gave way to a "pluralistic" interpretation, where the cost was made dependent on a number of factors: the subjective utility of the product, the costs of its production, supply and demand. Smith's ideas about the exploitation of wage labor by capital (that is, elements of the theory of surplus value) completely disappeared from Say, giving way to the theory of factors of production. Say followed Smith in his economic liberalism. He demanded a "cheap state" and advocated minimizing its intervention in the economy. In this respect, too, he belonged to the physiocratic tradition. In 1812, Say published the second edition of the Treatise. In 1828-1930. Say published a 6-volume "Complete Course in Practical Political Economy", in which, however, he did not give anything new in comparison with the "Treatise".
In the first edition of the Treatise, Say wrote four pages on sales. They expressed in a vague form the idea that a general overproduction of goods in the economy and economic crises are impossible in principle. Any production itself generates incomes, for which goods of the corresponding value are necessarily bought. Aggregate demand in an economy is always equal to aggregate supply. In his opinion, only partial disproportions can arise: too much of one product is produced, and too little of the other. But it straightens out without a general crisis. In 1803, Say formulated the law according to which the supply of goods always gives rise to a corresponding demand. Those. thus he excludes the possibility of a general crisis of overproduction, and also believes that free pricing and minimization of state intervention in the market economy will cause automatic regulation of the market.
Production not only increases the supply of goods, but also, through the necessary coverage of production costs, generates demand for these goods. "Products pay for products" is the essence of Say's Law of Markets.
Demand for the products of any industry should increase in real terms when the supply of all industries increases, because it is the supply that creates the demand for the products of this industry. Say's law therefore warns us against applying to macroeconomic performance the judgments derived from microeconomic analysis. An individual commodity can be produced in excess relative to all other commodities; a relative overproduction of all commodities at once cannot in any way occur.
If we talk about the application of Say's law to the real world, then this affirms the unreality of the excess demand for money. "Unreality" in this case can hardly mean a logical impossibility. It must be understood that the demand for money cannot always be in excess, because this corresponds to a situation of disequilibrium.
Using Say's arguments, the bourgeoisie put forward progressive demands for the reduction of the bureaucratic state apparatus, freedom of enterprise and trade.
4.3. The economic doctrine of T. Malthus
A striking, unique contribution to economics was made by the representative of the classical school, the Englishman T. Malthus 23 . Treatise T. Malthus "Experience on the Law of Population", published in 1798, made and is making such a powerful impression on the reading public that discussions about this work are ongoing to this day. The range of assessments in these discussions is extremely wide: from "brilliant foresight" to "anti-scientific nonsense."
T. Malthus was not the first to write about demographic problems, but, perhaps, he was the first who tried to propose a theory describing the patterns of population change. As for his system of evidence and statistical illustrations, a lot of claims were made against them already in those days. In the XVIII-XIX centuries, the theory of T. Malthus became known mainly due to the fact that its author for the first time proposed a refutation of the widespread thesis that human society can be improved through social reform. For economic science, the treatise of T. Malthus is valuable for those analytical conclusions that were subsequently used by other theorists of the classical and some other schools.
As we know, A. Smith proceeded from the fact that the material wealth of society is the ratio between the volume of consumer goods and the population. The founder of the classical school paid the main attention to the study of the patterns and conditions for the growth of production volume, but he practically did not consider issues related to the patterns of population change. This task was undertaken by T. Malthus.
From the point of view of T. Malthus, there is a contradiction between the "instinct of procreation" and the limited land suitable for agricultural production. Instincts make humanity multiply with a very high speed, exponentially. In turn, agriculture, and only it produces the food products necessary for people, is capable of producing these products at a much lower rate, "in arithmetic progression." Therefore, any increase in food production will be absorbed sooner or later by an increase in population. Thus, the cause of poverty is the ratio of the rate of population growth and the rate of growth of living goods. Any attempt to improve living conditions through social reform is thus brought to naught by the growing human mass.
T. Malthus connects the relatively low growth rates of food products with the action of the so-called law of diminishing soil fertility. The meaning of this law is that the amount of land suitable for agricultural production is limited. The volume of production can grow only due to extensive factors, and each next land plot is included in the economic circulation with more and more costs, the natural fertility of each next land plot is lower than the previous one, and therefore the overall level of fertility of the entire land fund as a whole tends to decrease . Progress in the field of agricultural production technology is generally very slow and is not able to compensate for the decline in fertility.
Thus, endowing people with the ability to unlimited reproduction, nature through economic processes imposes restrictions on the human race, which regulate the growth of the population. Among these constraints, T. Malthus singles out: moral constraints and poor health, which lead to a decrease in the birth rate, as well as vicious life and poverty, which lead to an increase in mortality. The decrease in the birth rate and the increase in mortality are ultimately determined by the limited means of subsistence.
In principle, quite different conclusions can be drawn from such a formulation of the problem. Some commentators and interpreters of T. Malthus saw in his theory a misanthropic doctrine that justifies poverty and calls for wars as a method of eliminating the surplus population. Others believe that T. Malthus laid the theoretical foundations for the "family planning" policy, which has been widely used in the last thirty years in many countries of the world. T. Malthus himself only in every possible way emphasized only one thing - it is necessary for each person to take care of himself and be fully responsible for his hindsight.
5. The fourth stage in the development of classical political economy. Completion of classical political economy
5.1. The economic doctrine of J. S. Mill
John Stuart Mill 24 (1806-1873) is one of the finalists of classical political economy. The main work "Fundamentals of Political Economy" in 5 books was published in 1848.
In theoretical and methodological terms D. Ricardo is close. However, in the field of methodology, he not only repeated the classics, but also achieved undeniable progress.
Theoretical Legacy:
1) When defining the subject of political economy, he put forward the "laws of production" and "laws of distribution", practically repeating his predecessors. The specifics of J.S. Mill - against these laws. The former, he believes, are unchanging and are set by technical conditions like the physical quantities of the natural sciences - "there is nothing in them that depends on the will." The second is controlled by "human intuition", they are "what the opinions and desires of the ruling part of society make them, and are very different in different centuries and in different countries" 25 .
2) A new moment in the methodology of J. S. Mill's research is an attempt to identify differences in the concepts of "statics" and "dynamics". He notes that all economists tend to strive to know the laws of the economy of a "stationary and unchanging society", but now it is necessary to add "the dynamics of political economy to its statics"
3) In the theory of labor productivity, J.S. Mill, in fact, is in full agreement with A. Smith - “only productive labor (i.e., the results of which are tangible) creates wealth - a material good” The novelty is that he proposes to recognize labor as productive the acquisition of qualifications, the protection of property, which allow increasing accumulation. And the rest - "any income from unproductive labor is a simple redistribution of income created by productive labor."
4) Essentially J.S. Mill relies on D. Ricardo and T. Malthus - this is a wage that depends on the supply and demand for labor, the minimum wage for workers is inevitable. This became the basis of his "working fund" doctrine, according to which the class struggle, trade unions cannot prevent the formation of wages at the subsistence level. His idea is interesting that, other things being equal, wages are lower if the work is less attractive. In 1869, he recognized the possibilities of trade union influence on wage increases.
5) In the theory of capital, J.S. Mill concludes that capital is “a previously accumulated stock of products of past labor.” Capital formation as the basis of investment allows for the expansion of employment and can prevent unemployment, if, however, one does not mean "unproductive spending of the rich"
6) In the theory of rent, he has common positions with D. Ricardo - this is "compensation paid for the use of land."
7) In the theory of income distribution, he is a supporter of T. Malthus. The theory of population is an axiom for him, especially since in England after the census in 1821. for 40 years the means of subsistence did not outstrip the rate of population growth.
8) In the theory of value J.S. Mill repeats D. Ricardo - value is created by labor, it is the quantity of labor that "is of paramount importance" in the event of a change in value.
9) Theory of money J.S. Mill is quantitative: a change in the amount of money affects the relative change in the prices of goods. Other equal conditions the value of money itself "changes inversely with the quantity of money: every increase in quantity lowers its value, and every decrease raises it in exactly the same proportion."
10) The first judgments and interpretations of socialism and the socialist structure of society among the major representatives of political economy belong to J.S. Mill. His doctrine of social reform is based on the fact that "it is impossible to change only the laws of production, and not the laws of distribution." This shows his lack of understanding that production and distribution are not separate spheres, but are comprehensively interpenetrating.
With all the benevolence towards "socialism" J.S. Mill fundamentally dissociates himself from "socialism" in that social injustice is allegedly connected with the rights of private property as such. "It is only in the backward countries of the world that increasing production is the most important task - in the more developed countries, the improvement of distribution is considered economically necessary."
The main conclusion is that the solution of practical problems requires "spreading the socialist worldview", but "the general principle should be laisses faire, and every deviation from it, not dictated by considerations of some higher good, is a clear evil" 26 . The state should intensify its participation in the socio-economic development of society and carry out related reforms - by regulating bank interest, reducing large government spending, creating infrastructure, developing science, and developing progressive legislation.
To prevent the government from "molding the opinions and feelings of the people from a young age", he recommends instead of public public education a system of private schools or compulsory home education up to a certain age.
5.2. The economic doctrine of Karl Marx
Karl Marx 27 (1818-1883) - one of the finalists of classical political economy - left a very significant mark on the economic thought of our society. His ideas go beyond directly economic problems - they are described in relation to philosophical, sociological and political problems. Very clearly noted V.V. Leontiev: "Soviet political economy ... remained ... in essence ... a cumbersome and unshakable monument to Marx" 28 , which, under the guise of Marx's enormous scientific authority, allegedly tried to scientifically substantiate the construction of "barracks communism", against which Marx was categorically opposed. But - "Marxism as an economic theory is a theory of rapidly growing private enterprise, not a centralized economy."
In 1867 Marx published the first volume of Capital, which he regarded as the work of his life. Volumes 2 and 3 are posthumous, far from finished, published by Engels.
The theoretical heritage of K. Marx:
1) The central place in Marx’s research methodology is the concept of base and superstructure: “In the social production of their lives, people enter into certain, necessary, independent relations from their will - relations of production that correspond to a certain stage in the development of their material productive forces. The totality of these production relations is the economic structure of society, the real basis on which the legal and political superstructure rises and to which certain forms of social consciousness correspond. The mode of production of material life determines the social, political and spiritual processes of life in general. It is not the consciousness of people that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being determines their consciousness.
2) The central idea of his class theory is the class struggle. In The Communist Manifesto, he wrote: “The history of all hitherto existing societies has been the history of class struggles. Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, landowner and serf, master and apprentice, in short, oppressor and oppressed, were in eternal antagonism to each other, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open struggle, which always ended in a revolutionary reorganization of the entire social edifice or in the general destruction of the struggling classes. ". His conclusion: the development of the productive forces leads them to comprehensive impoverishment and the growth of the proletariat in the majority of the population will make it possible to make a revolution and take power, but in the interests of everyone. The proletarian revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat will lead to the fact that "in place of the old bourgeois society with its classes and class opposites, there comes an association in which the free development of each is a condition for the development of all."
3) K. Marx's theory of capital - in the very definition of the category "capital" he compares it with the "means of exploitation" of the worker and the establishment of power over the labor force. Another conclusion of Marx is that “by adding living labor power to their dead objectivity (to the value of commodities), the capitalist turns value - the past materialized, dead labor - into capital, into self-increasing value, into an animated monster ... ". Another interpretation of it characterizes the relationship of surplus value with the self-expansion of capital: "Only that worker is productive who produces surplus value for the capitalist or serves the self-expansion of capital."
4) At the heart of the labor theory of value of K. Marx is the provision on average social labor or time spent "with an average level of skill and intensity of labor at a given time." According to Marx, the basis of value is only labor costs, despite the change in price depending on the ratio of supply and demand.
5) In K. Marx's theory of wages, the wages of a hired worker are the result of his exchange with the capitalist for the sold "labor power", and not labor itself, as the founders of political economy believed. Wages are equivalent to the amount of goods to support the life of the worker and his family. The difference between labor and wages is appropriated by the capitalist. He is confident that this difference - "unpaid work" - can be identified and measured. Scientific and technological progress generates a constant surplus of labor and predetermines the outcome of the exchange between the capitalist and the worker to the detriment of the workers, so real wages never grow in proportion to the increase in labor productivity and concludes: a decrease in the value of goods and services in monetary terms due to an increase in labor productivity causes an adequate decrease prices for goods bought by workers, but real wages do not increase significantly in the end, so not far from "pauperization" (poverty of workers) and "mental degradation of the working class".
6) The theory of surplus value is the key theory of Marx's teachings. Its essence: labor can be quantified with accuracy, and the assessment of the value of labor (salary).
The theory of surplus value is Marx's starting point in defining "productive labor". He agrees with Mill - labor is productive if: it produces surplus value that grows not in an “absolute” form, but in the form of “relative surplus value”, which makes it possible to reduce the cost (value) of means of subsistence; recognize that productive labor can create surplus value only in the sphere of production, and not in circulation.
K. Marx agrees with D. Ricardo that the rate of profit tends to decrease, the formation of an average rate of profit. But Ricardo sees the reason for this in competition, capital flows. Marx, on the other hand, believes that this is a historical phenomenon of the mechanism of self-destruction of capitalism through the inevitable change in the organic composition of capital in the pursuit of a stable "rate of profit" in favor of an increase in its total volume of the share of constant and a corresponding decrease in the share of variable capital. And variable capital is "a longed-for source of surplus value", which is "the guiding motive, limit and ultimate goal of capitalist production."
8) The theory of rent by K. Marx is almost similar to D. Ricardo, to which he made an addition - along with the “differential” there is an absolute rent, therefore, the owner of the land, along with the natural rent, receives excess profit.
9) The theory of cyclical economic development under capitalism is based on the manifestation of the law of the tendency of the rate of profit to decrease. Marx believes that the achievement of macroeconomic equilibrium and consistent economic growth under capitalism is impossible due to the internal antagonistic contradictions of capitalism and tries to convince the reader of the fatality of the "basic contradiction of capitalism" - production for profit, not for consumption. He brilliantly criticizes the vulgar doctrines of the economic crisis - underconsumption ( low salary does not allow workers to buy their own products), the possibility of eliminating the crisis by additional investment, explaining crises by oversavings. At the same time, he criticizes everyone who recognizes only a "periodic excess of capital" and not a "general overproduction of goods." But K. Marx himself in Capital did not give a theory of crises, but rather a causal (causal) assessment of capital accumulation and income distribution under capitalism, inevitably leading to periods of “general overproduction”. According to Marx, the rise caused by the desire for profit leads to a demand for labor, to an increase in wages, a decrease in the rate of profit and ends in a recession. The next business cycle. His picture of the crisis "is both punishment and purification", and the conclusion is unambiguous: "the ultimate cause of all real crises always remains poverty and limited consumption of the masses" 29 .
Conclusion
The classical school of political economy is one of the mature trends in economic thought that have left a deep mark on the history of economic thought. The economic ideas of the classical school have not lost their significance to this day.
The classical direction originated in the 17th century and flourished in the 18th and early XIX century. The greatest merit of the classics is that they put labor as a creative force and value as the embodiment of value at the center of economics and economic research, thereby laying the foundation for the labor theory of value. The classical school became the herald of the ideas of economic freedom, the liberal trend in the economy. Representatives of the classical school developed a scientific understanding of surplus value, profit, taxes, land rent. In the depths of the classical school, in fact, economic science was born.
The characteristic features of classical political economy include the following:
1. Classical political economy is based on the labor theory of value.
2. The main principle is “laissez faire” (“let things take their course”), that is, the state does not interfere in economic matters. In this case, the "invisible hand" of the market will ensure the optimal allocation of resources.
3. The subject of study is mainly the sphere of production.
4. The value of a commodity is determined by the costs involved in its production.
5. A person is considered only as an “economic person”, who strives for his own benefit, to improve his position. Morality, cultural values are not taken into account.
6. The elasticity of the number of workers in terms of wages is higher than one. This means that any increase in wages leads to an increase in the labor force, and any decrease in wages leads to a decrease in the size of the labor force,
7. The purpose of the entrepreneurial activity of the capitalist is to maximize profits.
8. The main factor in increasing wealth is the accumulation of capital.
9. Economic growth is achieved through productive labor in the sphere of material production.
10. Money is a tool that facilitates the process of exchanging goods.
So, in the course of work, I found out the following.
For the first time the term "classical political economy" was used by K. Marx. And the term "political economy" was first used by A. Montchretien in 1615.
The founders of classical political economy are W. Petty (England) and P. Boisguillebert (France).
Classical political economy includes 4 main stages.
In this term paper, I examined the economic teachings of the main representatives of classical political economy, such as: W. Petty, P. Boisguillebert, F. Quesnay, A. Smith, D. Riccardo, J. B. Say, T. Malthus, J. S. Mill, K. Marx.
4 Big Encyclopedia Cyril and Methodius” (BEKM) is a modern universal Russian encyclopedia. (on 8 CDs) Samuelson (Samuelson, Samuelson) (Samuelson) Paul (full name Paul Anthony) (May 15, 1915, Gary, Indiana), American economist who has made a fundamental contribution to almost all areas of modern economic theory .
5 The Great Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius (BEKM) is a modern universal Russian encyclopedia. (on 8 CDs) Montchretien Antoine de (c. 1575-1621), French economist, representative of mercantilism. He was the first to use the term "political economy" (1615).
7 The Great Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius (BEKM) is a modern universal Russian encyclopedia (on 8 CDs) Petty William (1623-87), English economist, founder of classical political economy. Considered the source of wealth production. Founder of the labor theory of value.
12 The Great Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius (BEKM) is a modern universal Russian encyclopedia (on 8 CDs) Pierre Boisguillebert (1646-1714), French economist, founder of classical bourgeois political economy in France, one of the founders of labor theory cost.
14 The Great Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius (BEKM) is a modern universal Russian encyclopedia. Physiocrats (French physiocrates; from Greek physis - nature and kratos - strength, power, domination), representatives of the classical school of political. savings 2nd floor. 18th century in France. Physiocrats explored the sphere of production, laid the foundation scientific analysis reproduction and distribution of the social product. The "pure product" is created, according to the Physiocrats, only by agricultural labor. Bourgeois society was divided into classes. They opposed mercantilism; free trade advocates.
15The Great Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius (BEKM) is a modern universal Russian encyclopedia (on 8 CDs) François Quesnay (1694-1774), French economist. Founder of the physiocratic school. Developed problems of social reproduction. The main work is the Economic Table (1758).
16 Avtonomov V., Ananyin O., Manashev I. History of economic doctrines. - M.: INFRA-M, 2006. - 784 p. - (Higher education).
18 The Great Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius (BEKM) is a modern universal Russian encyclopedia (on 8 CDs) Adam Smith. From "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations"
19 The Great Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius (BEKM) is a modern universal Russian encyclopedia (on 8 CDs) Adam Smith. From "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations"
20 Barshenev S.A. History of economic doctrines: Textbook. - M.: Economist, 2004.
21 The Great Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius (BEKM) is a modern universal Russian encyclopedia (on 8 CDs) RICARDO David (1772-1823), an English economist, one of the largest representatives of classical political economy.
22 Jean Baptiste Say (1767–1832) was a French economist. He entered the history of economic thought as the author of the theory of utility. Titova N.E. History of economic doctrines: a course of lectures - M .: Humanitarian publishing center VLADOS, 1997. - p. 58.
23 The Great Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius (BEKM) is a modern universal Russian encyclopedia (on 8 CDs) Malthus Thomas Robert (1766-1834), English economist, founder of Malthusianism. Foreign honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1826).
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Novokuznetsk branch of the Tomsk State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering
SUMMARY ON THE TOPIC:
Classical political economy, economic teachings of A. Smith, D. Ricardo, T. Malthus, S. Mil.
Novokuznetsk 2010
Introduction
1. CLASSICAL POLITICAL ECONOMY
1.1 General characteristics of the classical direction
1.2 Stages in the evolution of classical political economy
1.3 Features of the subject and method of studying classical political economy
2. ECONOMIC DOCTRINES OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL
2.1 The economic doctrine of A. Smith
2.2 The economic doctrine of D. Ricardo
2.3 The economic doctrine of T. Malthus
2.4 The economic doctrine of J. S. Mill
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Introduction
This work characterizes the classical direction in the history of economic doctrines. It considers the following range of questions: how the term “classical political economy” is interpreted in economics; what stages does classical political economy cover in its development; what are the features of the subject and method of studying the "classical school", as well as the main economic theories at the four stages of development of the classical school of political economy.
The history of economic doctrines is an integral link in the cycle of general educational disciplines in the direction of "economics".
The subject of this discipline is the historical process of the emergence, development and change of economic ideas and concepts presented in the theories of individual economists.
Methodologically, the history of economic doctrines is based on a set of progressive methods of economic analysis. These include methods: historical, logical abstraction, systemic.
The history of economic doctrines dates back to the time of the ancient world, i.e. emergence of the first states. Since then and until now, constant attempts have been made to systematize economic views into economic theory, accepted by society as a guide to action in the implementation of economic policy. At the same time, as changes occur in the economy, science, technology and culture, economic theory is constantly updated and improved.
1. CLASSICAL POLITICAL ECONOMY1.1 General characteristics of classical political economy
Classical political economy arose when entrepreneurial activity following the sphere of trade, money circulation and lending operations, it also spread to many industries and the sphere of production as a whole. Therefore, already in the manufacturing period, which brought to the fore in the economy the capital employed in the sphere of production, the protectionism of the mercantilists ceded its dominant position to a new concept - the concept of economic liberalism, based on the principles of non-intervention of the state in economic processes, unlimited freedom of competition of entrepreneurs.
The socio-economic transformations that have taken place have also changed the nature of political economy. As you know, from the beginning of the XVII century. after the publication of the “Treatise of Political Economy” by A.N. Montchretien (1615), the essence of political economy was reduced by the conductors of the administrative (protectionist) decision economic problems to the science of the state economy. But by the end of the seventeenth century and in subsequent times, the manufacturing economy of the most developed European countries reached such a level that "advisers to the king" could no longer convince him of ways to increase the country's wealth through "... work on gold, on restraining imports and encouraging exports, and on a thousand detailed orders aimed at establishing control over the economy"1 .
This period marked the beginning of a truly new school of political economy, which is called classical, first of all, for the truly scientific nature of many of its theories and methodological provisions that underlie modern economics. It was thanks to the representatives of classical political economy that economic theory acquired the status of a scientific discipline, and until now, “when they say “classical school”, they mean a school that remains true to the principles bequeathed by the first teachers of economic science, and tries to prove them in the best way, to develop and even to correct, but without changing in them what constitutes their being.
As a result of the decomposition of mercantilism and the strengthening of the growing trend of limiting direct state control above economic activity"pre-industrial conditions" lost their former significance, and "free private enterprise" prevailed. The latter, according to P. Samuelson, led “to the conditions of complete laissez faire (that is, absolute non-interference of the state in business life), events began to take a different turn”, and only “... from the end of the 19th century. in almost all countries there has been a steady expansion economic functions states"3.
In fact, the principle of "total laissez faire" became the main motto of a new direction of economic thought - classical political economy, and its representatives distinguished between mercantilism and the protectionist policy promoted by it in the economy, putting forward an alternative concept of economic liberalism. At the same time, the classics enriched economic science with many fundamental provisions, which in many respects have not lost their relevance to the present.
It should be noted that for the first time the term "classical political economy" was used by one of its consummators K. Marx in order to show its specific place in "bourgeois political economy".
1.2 Stages in the evolution of classical political economyAnd
According to the generally accepted assessment, classical political economy originated at the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th centuries. in the works of W. Petty (England) and P. Boisguillebert (France). The time of its completion is considered from two theoretical and methodological positions. One of them - Marxist - points to the period of the first quarter of the 19th century, and the English scientists A. Smith and D. Ricardo are considered to complete the school. According to another - the most common in the scientific world - the classics exhausted themselves in the last third of the 19th century. works of J.S. Mill.
Briefly, the essence of these positions is as follows. According to Marxist theory, it is argued that classical political economy ended at the beginning of the 19th century. and was replaced by "vulgar political economy" because the founders of the latter - J. B. Say and T. Malthus - seized, according to K. Marx, "for the external appearance of phenomena and the opposite of the law of phenomena." At the same time, the main argument justifying the chosen position, the author of "Capital" considers the "discovered" by him "the law of surplus value". This "law", in his opinion, follows from the central element of the teachings of A. Smith and D. Ricardo - the labor theory of value, abandoning which the "vulgar economist" is doomed to become an apologist for the bourgeoisie, surplus value. K. Marx's conclusion is unequivocal: the "classical school" convincingly revealed the antagonistic contradictions of capitalism and led to the concept of a classless socialist future.
In the development of classical political economy, with a certain conventionality, four stages can be distinguished.
The first stage covers the period from the end of the XVII century. until the beginning of the second half of the 18th century. This is the stage of a significant expansion of the sphere of market relations, reasoned refutation of the ideas of mercantilism and its complete debunking. The main representatives of the beginning of this stage, W. Petty and P. Boisguillebert, regardless of each other, were the first in the history of economic thought to put forward the labor theory of value, according to which the source and measure of value is the amount of labor expended on the production of a particular commodity product or good. Condemning mercantilism and proceeding from the causal dependence of economic phenomena, they saw the basis of the wealth and welfare of the state not in the sphere of circulation, but in the sphere of production.
The so-called physiocratic school, which became widespread in France in the middle and early second half of the 18th century, completed the first stage of classical political economy. The leading authors of this school, F. Quesnay and A. Turgot, in their search for a source of net product (national income), along with labor, gave decisive importance to land. Criticizing mercantilism, the Physiocrats delved even more deeply into the analysis of the sphere of production and market relations, although mainly in the field of agriculture, unduly moving away from the analysis of the sphere of circulation.
The second stage in the development of classical political economy covers the period of the last third of the 18th century. and is undoubtedly connected with the name and works of A. Smith - the central figure among all its representatives. His "economic man" and the "invisible hand" of providence convinced more than one generation of economists about the natural order and inevitability, regardless of the will and consciousness of people, of the spontaneous operation of objective economic laws. Largely thanks to him until the 30s. In the 20th century, the provision on the complete non-interference of government regulations in free competition was considered irrefutable.
Further, we note that the laws of the division of labor and the growth of its productivity, discovered by A. Smith (based on the analysis of the pin manufactory), are also considered classic. On his theoretical research, to a large extent, are also based modern concepts about the product and its properties, income (wages, profits), capital, productive and unproductive labor, and others.
The third stage in the evolution of the classical school of political economy falls on the first half of the 19th century, when in a number of developed countries completed the industrial revolution. During this period, the followers, including the students of A. Smith (as many of them called themselves), subjected to in-depth study and rethinking of the main ideas and concepts of their idol, enriched the school with fundamentally new and significant theoretical provisions. Among the representatives of this stage, it is worth highlighting the French J.B. Say and F. Bastiat, the English D. Ricardo, T. Malthus and N. Senior, the American G. Carey and others.
D. Ricardo argued with A. Smith more than his other contemporaries. But, while fully sharing the latter's views on the incomes of the "main classes of society", he for the first time revealed the regularity of the tendency of the rate of profit to decrease, and developed a complete theory on the forms of land rent. One of the best substantiations of the regularity of changes in the value of money as commodities, depending on their quantity in circulation, must also be attributed to his merits.
To the triad of classical economists - followers of Smith's political economy - it is legitimate, along with D. Ricardo and J. B. Say, to dismiss T. Malthus. This scientist, in particular, in the development of the imperfect concept of A. Smith on the mechanism of social reproduction (according to Marx, "Smith's dogma") put forward a theoretical position on "third parties", in accordance with which he substantiated the real participation in the creation and distribution of the total social product only productive, but also unproductive strata of society. T. Malthus also owns the idea, which has not lost its relevance even in our time, about the impact on the welfare of society of the number and rate of population growth, which at the same time testifies to the interdependence of economic processes and natural phenomena.
The fourth final stage in the development of classical political economy covers the period of the second half of XIX century, during which J.S. Mill and K. Marx summarized the best achievements of the school: On the other hand, by this time new, more progressive areas of economic thought were already gaining independent significance, which later received the name “marginalism” (end of the 19th century - ) and "institutionalism" (early 20th century). As for the innovation of the ideas of the Englishman J.S. Mill and K. Marx, who wrote his works in exile from his native Germany, these authors of the classical school, being strictly committed to the position on the effectiveness of pricing in a competitive environment and condemning class bias and vulgar apologetics in economic thought , nevertheless sympathized with the working class, were turned "toward socialism and reforms"14. Moreover, K. Marx, in addition, emphasized the increasing exploitation of labor by capital, which, intensifying the class struggle, should, in his opinion, inevitably lead to the dictatorship of the proletariat, the “withering away of the state” and the equilibrium economy of a classless society13.
1.3 Features of the subject and method of studying classical political economy
Continuing general characteristics almost two hundred years of the history of classical political economy, it is necessary to single out its common features, approaches and trends in terms of the subject and method of study and give them an appropriate assessment. They can be reduced to the following generalization.
First, the rejection of protectionism in economic policy the state and the predominant analysis of the problems of the sphere of production in isolation from the sphere of circulation, the development and application of progressive methodological methods of research, including causal (causal), deductive and inductive, logical abstraction. At the same time, a class-based approach to observable "laws of production" and "productive labor" removed any doubt that predictions derived from logical abstraction and deduction should be subjected to experimental verification. As a result, the classical opposition between the spheres of production and circulation, productive and unproductive labor caused an underestimation of the natural interconnection of economic entities in these spheres (“the human factor”), the reverse influence on the sphere of production of monetary, credit and financial factors and other elements of the sphere of circulation.
Thus, taking only the problems of the sphere of production as the subject of study, classical economists, in the words of M. Blaug, “emphasized that the conclusions of economic science are ultimately based on postulates equally drawn from the observed “laws of production” and subjective introspection"16.
Moreover, when solving practical problems, the classics gave answers to the main questions, posing these questions, as N. Kondratyev put it, “evaluatively”. For this reason, he believes, "... answers were obtained that have the character of evaluative maxims and rules, namely: a system based on freedom of economic activity is the most perfect, freedom of trade is most conducive to the prosperity of the nation, etc." This circumstance also did not contribute to the objectivity and consistency of economic analysis and theoretical generalization of the classical school of political economy.
Secondly, relying on causal analysis, calculations of average and total values of economic indicators, the classics (unlike mercantilists) tried to identify the mechanism of the origin of the cost of goods and price fluctuations in the market not due to the “natural nature” of money and their quantity in the country. , but in connection with production costs or, according to another interpretation, the amount of labor expended. Undoubtedly, since the time of classical political economy, there has not been another economic problem in the past, and N. Kondratiev also pointed out this, which would attract “... such close attention of economists, the discussion of which would cause so much mental stress, logical tricks and polemical passions, as a value issue. And at the same time, it seems difficult to indicate another problem, the main directions in the solution of which would remain so irreconcilable, as in the case of the problem of value.
However, the costly principle of determining the price level by the classical school was not linked to another important aspect market economic relations - the consumption of a product (service) with a changing need for a particular good with the addition of a unit of this good to it. Therefore, the opinion of N. Kondratiev, who wrote: “The foregoing digression convinces us that until the second half of the 19th century in social economy there was no conscious and distinct division and distinction between theoretical judgments of value or practical ones, is quite fair. As a rule, authors are convinced that those judgments that are in fact judgments of value are just as scientific and justified as those that are theoretical judgments. A few decades later (1962), L. von Mises expressed a similar opinion in many respects. “Public opinion,” he writes, “is still under the impression of the scientific attempt of the representatives of classical economic theory to cope with the problem of value. Not being able to resolve the obvious paradox of pricing, the classics could not trace the sequence of market transactions up to the final consumer, but were forced to start their constructions from the actions of a businessman for whom consumer utility estimates are given.
Thirdly, the category of "value" was recognized by the authors of the classical school as the only initial category of economic analysis, from which, as in the scheme of a genealogical tree, other essentially derivative categories bud (grow). In addition, this kind of simplification of analysis and systematization led the classical school to the fact that economic research itself, as it were, imitated the mechanical following the laws of physics, i.e. search for purely internal causes of economic well-being in society without taking into account psychological, moral, legal and other factors of the social environment.
These shortcomings, referring to M. Blaug, could partly be explained by the impossibility of a completely controlled experiment in the social sciences, as a result of which “economists, in order to reject any theory, need much more facts than, say, physicists”22. M. Blaug himself, however, clarifies: “If the conclusions from the theorems of economic theory could be unambiguously verified, no one would ever hear about the unrealistic assumptions. But the theorems of economic theory cannot be unambiguously verified, since all predictions here are probabilistic in nature. And yet, if condescension is not to be avoided, then one can agree with L. Mises that “many epigones of classical economists saw the task of economic science in studying events that do not actually occur, but only those forces that, in some, not quite understandable way, predetermined occurrence of real phenomena.
Fourth, examining the issues economic growth and improving the welfare of the people, the classics did not simply proceed (again, unlike the mercantilists) from the principle of achieving an active trade balance (surplus), but tried to justify the dynamism and equilibrium of the state of the country's economy. However, as you know, they did without serious mathematical analysis, the use of methods of mathematical modeling of economic problems, allowing you to choose the best (alternative) option from a certain number of states of the economic situation. Moreover, the classical school considered the achievement of equilibrium in the economy to be automatically possible, sharing the “law of markets” mentioned above by J. B. Say.
Finally, fifthly, money, which has long and traditionally been considered an artificial invention of people, during the period of classical political economy was recognized as a commodity that spontaneously emerged in the world of commodities, which cannot be “cancelled” by any agreements between people. Among the classics, the only one who demanded the abolition of money was P. Boisguillebert. At the same time, many authors of the classical school up to the middle of the XIX century. they did not attach due importance to the various functions of money, highlighting mainly one - the function of the medium of circulation, i.e. interpreting the monetary commodity as a thing, as a technical means convenient for exchange. The underestimation of other functions of money was due to a misunderstanding of the reverse impact of monetary factors on the sphere of production.
Among the adherents of A. Smith's skill in the post-manufacturing period, i.e. in the first half of the 19th century, in the history of economic thought, the names of D. Ricardo, J. B. Say, T. Malthus, N. Senior, F. Bastiat and some other economists are first mentioned. Their work bears the imprint of the "new" time, which showed that economic science should again take up the comprehension of what has been achieved in the "Wealth of Nations" in many respects. economic categories and theories.
2. ECONOMIC DOCTRINES OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL
2.1 Economics of Adam Smith
Adam Smith was born on June 5, 1723. In the second half of the 18th century in England favorable conditions developed for the rise of economic thought. Classical political economy reached its highest development in the works of British scientists Adam Smith and David Ricardo. Like their predecessors, the founders of the classical school viewed economics as the study of wealth and how to increase it.
Adam Smith's main work on political economy is the fundamental work - "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations". Smith's book consists of five parts. In the first, he analyzes questions of value and income, in the second, the nature of capital and its accumulation. In them, he outlined the foundations of his teachings. In other parts, he considers the development of the European economy in the era of feudalism and the rise of capitalism, the history of economic thought and public finance.
Adam Smith explains that the main theme of his work is economic development: the forces that act temporarily and control the wealth of nations.
“An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of Wealth” is the first full-fledged work in economics that sets out the general basis of science - the theory of production and distribution. Then an analysis of the operation of these abstract principles on historical material and, finally, a number of examples of their application in economic policy. Moreover, all this work is imbued with the lofty idea of "an obvious and simple system of natural freedom", towards which, as it seemed to Adam Smith, the whole world was moving. The central motif - the soul of "The Wealth of Nations" - is the action of the "invisible hand"; we get our bread not by the mercy of the baker, but from his selfish interest. Smith was able to guess the most fruitful idea that under certain social conditions, which we today describe by the term "working competition", private interests can indeed be harmoniously combined with the interests of society. The market economy, not controlled by the collective will, not subject to a single plan, nevertheless, follows strict rules of conduct. The influence on the market situation of the actions of one individual, one of many, can be imperceptible. Indeed, he pays the prices that are asked of him, and can choose the quantity of goods at these prices, according to his greatest advantage. But the totality of these individual actions sets prices; each individual buyer is subject to prices, and the prices themselves are subject to the totality of all individual reactions. Thus, the "invisible hand" of the market provides a result that does not depend on the will and intention of the individual.
Moreover, this market automatism may well, in a certain sense, optimize the allocation of resources. Smith took off the burden of proof and postulated that decentralized, atomistic competition, in a certain sense, provides "maximum satisfaction of needs." Undoubtedly, Smith gave deep meaning to his "maximum satisfaction of needs" doctrine. He showed that:
Free competition seeks to equate prices with production costs, optimizing the distribution of resources within these industries;
Free competition in the markets for factors of production tends to equalize the net advantages of these factors in all industries and thereby establishes the optimal distribution of resources between industries.
He did not say that various factors would be combined in optimal proportions in production, or that goods would be optimally distributed among consumers. He did not say that economies of scale and the side effects of production often interfere with the achievement of a competitive optimum, although the essence of this phenomenon is reflected in his discussion of public works. But he did take the first step towards the theory of the optimal allocation of these resources under perfect competition.
In fairness, it should be noted that his own belief in the advantages of the "invisible hand" is least of all related to considerations about the efficiency of resource allocation in the static conditions of perfect competition. He considered a decentralized price system desirable because it produces results in dynamics: it expands the scale of the market, multiplies the advantages associated with the division of labor - in a word, it works like a powerful engine that ensures the accumulation of capital and income growth.
Smith was not content with declaring that a free market economy was the best way to live. He pays a lot of attention to the exact definition of the institutional structure that would guarantee the best possible operation of market forces.
He understands that:
personal interests can equally hinder and promote the growth of the welfare of society;
the market mechanism will establish harmony only when it is included in the appropriate legal and institutional framework.
2.2 The economic doctrine of D. Ricardo
David Ricardo (1772-1823) - one of the brightest personalities of the classical political economy of England, a follower and at the same time an active opponent of certain theoretical provisions of the legacy of the great A. Smith. The entire economic system of Ricardo arose as a continuation, development and criticism of Smith's theory. At the time of Ricardo, the industrial revolution was in its infancy, the essence of capitalism was far from being fully manifested. Therefore, the teachings of Ricardo continue the ascending line of development of the classical school.
The peculiarity of Ricardo's position is that the subject of political economy for him is the study of the sphere of distribution. In his main theoretical work, Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, Ricardo writes, referring to the distribution of the social product: "To determine the laws that govern this distribution is the main task of political economy." One might get the impression that on this issue Ricardo takes a step backwards compared to A. Smith, since he puts forward the sphere of distribution as the subject of political economy. However, in reality this is not at all the case. First of all, Ricardo will by no means exclude the sphere of production from the object of his analysis. At the same time, Ricardo's emphasis on the sphere of distribution aims to single out the social form of production as its own subject of political economy. And although Ricardo did not bring the problem to its full scientific solution, the importance of such a formulation of the question in the works of the finalist of the classical school can hardly be overestimated.
In the works of Ricardo, in fact, an attempt is outlined to single out the production relations of people, in contrast to the productive forces of society, and to declare these relations their own subject of political economy. Ricardo actually identifies the entire set of production relations with distribution relations, thereby significantly limiting the scope of political economy. Nevertheless, Ricardo gave a deep interpretation of the subject of political economy, came close to the secrets of the social mechanism of the capitalist economy. He was the first in the history of political economy to base the economic theory of capitalism on the labor theory of value, which reflects the general relations most typical of capitalism, namely commodity relations.
The new thing that Ricardo introduced into the labor theory of value is due, first of all, to a change in the historical situation, the transition of manufacturing capitalism to machine-level capitalism. An important merit of Ricardo is that, relying on the labor theory of value, he came closer to understanding the single basis of all capitalist incomes - profit, land rent, interest. Although he did not discover surplus value and the law of surplus value, however, Ricardo clearly saw that labor is the only source of value and, therefore, the incomes of classes and social groups not participating in production are in fact the result of the appropriation of someone else's unpaid labor.
Ricardo's theory of profit has two major contradictions:
The contradiction between the law of value and the law of surplus value, which resulted in Ricardo's inability to explain the origin of surplus value from the point of view of the law of value;
The contradiction between the law of value and the law of average profit, which was expressed in the fact that he failed to explain the average profit and the price of production from the standpoint of the theory of labor value.
The main drawback of D. Ricardo's theory is his identification of labor power as a commodity with its function - labor. Thus, he avoids the problem of clarifying the essence and mechanism of capitalist exploitation. But, nevertheless, Ricardo comes quite close to the correct quantitative determination of the price of labor, in fact, the value of labor power. Delimiting the natural and market prices of labor, he believes that under the influence of supply and demand, the natural price of labor is reduced to the cost of a certain amount of means of subsistence, necessary not only for the maintenance of workers and the continuation of their kind, but also to a certain extent for development. Consequently, the natural price of labor is a value category.
According to Ricardo, the market price of labor fluctuates around the natural price under the influence of the natural movement of the working population. If the market price of labor exceeds the natural one, the number of workers increases significantly, the supply of labor increases, at a certain stage increasing the demand for it. Due to these circumstances, unemployment arises, the market price of labor begins to fall. Its fall continues until the size of the working population begins to decline, the supply of labor decreases in accordance with the magnitude of the demand for it. At the same time, the market price of labor decreases in relation to the natural one. Thus, D. Ricardo's interpretation of the natural price of labor is rather contradictory.
David Ricardo was the consummator of bourgeois political economy precisely because the scientific truths he revealed became increasingly socially dangerous for the political and economic positions of the ruling class.
2.3 The economic doctrine of T. Malthus
Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834) is a prominent representative of the classical political economy of England. The work of this scientist was formed mainly in the first quarter of the 19th century, but the results of his scientific research are also valuable for modern economic theory.
A bright, original contribution to economics was made by the representative of the classical school, the Englishman T. Malthus. Treatise T. Malthus "Experience on the Law of Population", published in 1798, made and is making such a powerful impression on the reading public that discussions about this work are ongoing to this day. The range of assessments in these discussions is extremely wide: from "brilliant foresight" to "anti-scientific nonsense."
T. Malthus was not the first to write about demographic problems, but, perhaps, he was the first to try to propose a theory describing the patterns of population change. As for his system of evidence and statistical illustrations, a lot of claims were made against them already in those days. In the XVIII-XIX centuries, the theory of T. Malthus became known mainly due to the fact that its author for the first time proposed a refutation of the widespread thesis that human society can be improved through social reform. For economic science, the treatise of T. Malthus is valuable for those analytical conclusions that were subsequently used by other theorists of the classical and some other schools.
As we know, A. Smith proceeded from the fact that the material wealth of society is the ratio between the volume of consumer goods and the population. The founder of the classical school paid the main attention to the study of the patterns and conditions for the growth of production volume, but he practically did not consider issues related to the patterns of population change. This task was undertaken by T. Malthus.
From the point of view of T. Malthus, there is a contradiction between the "instinct of procreation" and the limited land suitable for agricultural production. The instincts make humanity multiply at a very high rate, "exponentially". In turn, agriculture, and only it produces the food products necessary for people, is capable of producing these products at a much lower rate, "in arithmetic progression." Therefore, any increase in food production will be absorbed sooner or later by an increase in population. Thus, the cause of poverty is the ratio of the rate of population growth and the rate of growth of living goods. Any attempt to improve living conditions through social reform is thus brought to naught by the growing human mass.
T. Malthus connects the relatively low growth rates of food products with the action of the so-called law of diminishing soil fertility. The meaning of this law is that the amount of land suitable for agricultural production is limited. The volume of production can grow only due to extensive factors, and each next land plot is included in the economic circulation with more and more costs, the natural fertility of each next land plot lower than the previous one, and therefore the overall level of fertility of the entire land fund as a whole tends to decrease. Progress in the field of agricultural production technology is generally very slow and is not able to compensate for the decline in fertility.
Thus, endowing people with the ability for unlimited reproduction, nature, through economic processes, imposes restrictions on the human race that regulate the growth of numbers. Among these constraints, T. Malthus singles out: moral constraints and poor health, which lead to a decrease in the birth rate, as well as vicious life and poverty, which lead to an increase in mortality. The decrease in the birth rate and the increase in mortality are ultimately determined by the limited means of subsistence.
In principle, quite different conclusions can be drawn from such a formulation of the problem. Some commentators and interpreters of T. Malthus saw in his theory a misanthropic doctrine that justifies poverty and calls for wars as a method of eliminating the surplus population. Others believe that T. Malthus laid theoretical basis"family planning" policy, which has been widely used in the last thirty years in many countries of the world. T. Malthus himself only in every possible way emphasized only one thing - it is necessary for each person to take care of himself and be fully responsible for his hindsight.
2.4 The economic doctrine of J. S. Mill
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) is one of the finalists of classical political economy. John Stuart Mill is one of the finalists of classical political economy and "a recognized authority in scientific circles whose research goes beyond technical economics."
J.S. Mill published his first "Experiments" in political economy when he was 23 years old, i.e. in 1829. In 1843, his philosophical work "System of Logic" appeared, which brought him fame. The main work (in five books, like that of A. Smith) entitled "Fundamentals of Political Economy and Some Aspects of Their Application to Social Philosophy" was published in 1848.
J.S. Mill accepted the Ricardian view on the subject of political economy, highlighting the "laws of production" and "the laws of distribution."
To the theory of value, J.S. Mill considered the concepts of "exchange value", "use value", "value" and some others, he draws attention to the fact that the cost (value) cannot increase for all goods at the same time, since the cost represents is a relative concept.
Wealth, according to Mill, consists of goods that have an exchange value as a characteristic property. “A thing for which nothing can be obtained in return, no matter how useful or necessary it may be, is not wealth ... For example, air, although it is an absolute necessity for a person, has no price on the market, since it can be obtained practically free of charge." But as soon as the limitation becomes tangible, the thing immediately acquires an exchange value. The monetary expression of the value of a commodity is its price.
The value of money is measured by the number of goods that can be bought with it. “Other things being equal, the value of money changes inversely with the amount of money: any increase in the amount lowers their value, and any decrease increases it in exactly the same proportion ... This is a specific property of money.” We begin to understand the importance of money in the economy only when money mechanism gives crashes.
Prices are directly set by competition, which arises from the fact that the buyer tries to buy cheaper, and sellers try to sell more expensive. Under free competition, the market price corresponds to the equality of supply and demand. On the contrary, “the monopolist may, at his discretion, charge any high price, so long as it does not exceed that which the consumer cannot or will not want to pay; but it cannot do this, only by limiting the supply.
IN long period time, the price of a commodity cannot be lower than its cost of production, since no one wants to produce at a loss. Therefore, the state of stable equilibrium between supply and demand "occurs only when objects are exchanged for each other in proportion to their production costs."
Mill calls capital the accumulated stock of products of labor arising from savings and existing "through its constant reproduction." Saving itself is understood as "refraining from current consumption for the sake of future benefits." Therefore, savings increase with the rate of interest.
Production activity is limited by the amount of capital. However, “every increase in capital leads or can lead to a new expansion of production, and without a certain limit ... If there are people capable of working and food for their livelihood, they can always be used in any kind of production.” This is one of the main provisions that distinguish classical economics from later ones.
Mill acknowledges, however, that other limitations are inherent in the development of capital. One of them is the reduction in income from capital, which he explains by the fall in the marginal productivity of capital. Thus, an increase in the volume of agricultural production "can never be achieved otherwise than by increasing the expenditure of labor in a proportion that increases that in which the volume of agricultural production increases."
On the whole, in stating the question of profit, Mill tends to adhere to the views of Ricardo. The emergence of an average rate of profit leads to the fact that profits become proportional to the capital employed, and prices become proportional to costs. “So that profit can be equal where costs are equal, i.e. costs of production, things must be exchanged for each other in proportion to their costs of production: things that have the same costs of production must also have the same value, because only in this way will the same costs bring the same income.
Mill analyzes the essence of money on the basis of a simple quantitative theory of money and the theory of market interest.
Mill's work meant the completion of the formation of classical economics, the beginning of which was laid by Adam Smith.
WCONCLUSION
The classical school of political economy is one of the mature trends in economic thought that have left a deep mark on the history of economic thought. The economic ideas of the classical school have not lost their significance to this day. The classical direction originated in the 17th century and flourished in the 18th and early 19th centuries. The greatest merit of the classics is that they put labor as a creative force and value as the embodiment of value at the center of economics and economic research, thereby laying the foundation for the labor theory of value. The classical school became the harbinger of ideas economic freedom, liberal direction in the economy. Representatives of the classical school developed a scientific understanding of surplus value, profit, taxes, land rent. In the depths of the classical school, in fact, economic science was born.
The main ideas of classical political economy are:
1. A person is considered only as an “economic person”, who has only one desire - the desire for his own benefit, to improve his position. Morality, culture, customs, etc. are not taken into account.
2. All parties involved in an economic transaction are free and equal before the law, and in the sense of foresight and foresight.
3. Everyone economic entity fully aware of prices, profits, wages and rents in any market as in this moment, as well as in the future.
4. The market provides full mobility of resources: labor and capital can instantly move to the right place.
5. The elasticity of the number of workers in terms of wages is not less than one. In other words, any increase in wages leads to an increase in the size of the labor force, and any decrease in wages leads to a decrease in the size of the work force.
6. The only goal of the capitalist is to maximize the return on capital.
7. There is an absolute flexibility of monetary wages in the labor market (its value is determined only by the ratio between supply and demand in the labor market).
8. The main factor in increasing wealth is the accumulation of capital.
9. Competition must be perfect and the economy free from excessive state interference. In this case, the "invisible hand" of the market will ensure the optimal allocation of resources.
LISTUSEDLITERATURE
2. Bartenev A., Economic theories and schools, M., 1996.
3. Blaug M. Economic thought in retrospect. M.: "Delo Ltd", 1994.
4. Yadgarov Ya.S. History of Economic Thought. M., 2000.
5. Galbraith J.K. Economic theories and goals of society. Moscow: Progress, 1979.
6. Zhid Sh., Rist Sh. History of economic doctrines. M.: Economics, 1995.
7. Kondratiev N.D. Fav. op. M.: Economics, 1993.
8. Negeshi T. History of economic theory. - M.: Aspect - press, 1995.
Mercantilism - the first concept of market economic theory
1. At the stage of the priority role in the economic science of mercantilism, the concept dominated: simple
1) protectionism
2) economic liberalism
2. The subject of study of mercantilism is: simple
1) sphere of circulation (consumption)
2) sphere of production (offers)
3) the sphere of agricultural production
4) the sphere of circulation and the sphere of production at the same time
3. The priority method of economic analysis of mercantilism is: simple
1) empirical method
2) causal method
3) functional method
4) historical method
5) mathematical method
4. In accordance with the economic views of mercantilists, wealth is: simple
2. goods and services
3. money and goods having a material essence
5. In accordance with the mercantilist concept, the source of monetary wealth is: average
1) the growth of foreign investment
2) violent conquest of foreign markets
3) unlimited freedom of entrepreneurial activity
4) excess of imports over exports
5) excess of exports over imports
6. The government was engaged in damage to the national coin during the period: simple
1) early mercantilism
2) late mercantilism
3) throughout the mercantilism
7. In accordance with the views of mercantilists, macroeconomic equilibrium is ensured in the country: a simple
1) government coordinating measures
2) without state intervention in economic life
3) partial state intervention in economic life
8. Colbertism is a characteristic of protectionist policy in the economy, as a result of which the capacity of the domestic market:
1) does not change
2) changes gradually
3) narrows
4) expands
5) shrinks and expands at the same time
1) Aristotle
2) F. Aquinas
3) A. Montchretien
5) K. Marx
The origin and development of classical political economy
1. At the stage of the priority role in the economic science of classical political economy, the concept dominated: simple
1) protectionism
2) economic liberalism
3) social control of society over the economy
2. The subject of classical political economy is: simple
1) sphere of circulation (consumption)
2) production area (offers)
3) the sphere of circulation and the sphere of production at the same time
4) the sphere of agricultural production
5) a combination of economic and non-economic factors
3. In classical political economy priority method economic analysis is: simple
1) empirical method
2) causal method
3) functional method
4) historical method
5) mathematical method
4. In accordance with the economic views of representatives of classical political economy, wealth is:
1. gold and silver money
2. goods and services
3. money and goods having a material essence
5. According to classical political economy, money is: simple
1) an artificial invention of people
2) the most important factor of economic growth
3) a technical tool, a thing that facilitates the exchange
4) the equivalent of wealth
6. According to classical political economy, wages as a worker's income gravitate: the average
1) to the physiological minimum
2) to the living wage
3) to the highest possible level
4) to the optimal level
1) nominalistic theory of money
2) metal theory of money
3) quantity theory of money
4) natural-economic relations
5) bimetallism systems
6) to a constant level
8. W. Petty and P. Boisguillebert - the founders of the theory of value, determined by: simple
1) labor costs (labor theory)
2) production costs (cost theory)
4) based on legal factors
5) Based on product differentiation
9. According to the classification proposed by F. Quesnay, farmers represent: simple
1) productive class
2) class of landowners
3) barren class
4) proletariat
5) the capitalist class
10. According to the teachings of F. Quesnay about the “pure product”, the latter is created: the average
1) in trade
2) in industry
3) in the banking sector
4) in small-scale farming
5) in agricultural production
1) W. Petty
2) F. Quesnay
4) K. Marx
5) A. Turgot
12. A. Turgot considers labor to be the only source of all wealth: average
1) merchant
2) farmer (farmer)
3) artisan
4) usurer
13. According to A. Smith, capital invested adds more value to real wealth and income: average
1) into trade
2) to industry
3) in the banking sector
4) in agricultural production
5) in all areas of the economy
14. The "invisible hand" of A. Smith is: complex
1) mechanism government controlled economy
2) operation of objective economic laws
3) the mechanism of management, due to divine providence
4) the operation of natural laws
5) interaction of the laws of nature and economics
15. According to the methodological position of A. Smith, private interest: average
1) inseparable from the general interest
2) stands above the public
3) secondary to public
4) develops the worst qualities of a person
5) hinders the progressive development of the economy
16. In the structure of trade, A. Smith placed in the first place: complex
1) domestic trade
2) foreign trade
3) transit trade
4) petty trade
5) retail
17. According to A. Smith, in every developed society the cost of goods is determined by: average
1) labor costs
2) labor and capital costs
3) the amount of income
4) marginal utility
5) marginal utility and marginal cost
18. A. Smith considers labor productive if it is applied: simple
1) in agricultural production
2) in any branch of material production
3) in the branches of material and non-material production
4) in foreign trade
5) in the field of science
19. In the capital structure, A. Smith distinguishes the following parts: simple
1) initial and annual advances
2) fixed and working capital
3) constant and variable capital
4) fixed and variable costs
5) current and future expenses
20. The thesis "Smith's fabulous dogma" arose from K. Marx due to the fact that A. Smith: complex
1) considers automatic equilibrium in the economy impossible
2) allows the division of capital into fixed and variable
3) identifies the principle of identifying the value of the "annual product of labor" and "the price of any commodity"
4) adheres to the theory of intensive reproduction
5) adheres to the theory of expanded reproduction
21. N.S. Mordvinov, being a follower of the economic teachings of A. Smith, considers the source of the origin of wealth: the average
1) industry
2) trade
4) industry, trade and science at the same time
22. A.K. Storch, being a follower of the economic teachings of A. Smith, admits the productive nature of labor: average
1) in material production
2) in non-material production
3) in material and non-material production