1. History 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. Studying the history of economic doctrines allows you to better understand the development economics her: 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. In accordance with the views of mercantilists, macroeconomic equilibrium is ensured 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 industry 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 of the economic teachings of 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, wages and interest rates are 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. Cause minimization wages workers S. Sismondi believes: 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
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Introduction
1. General characteristics of classical political economy
2. The main representatives of classical political economy
2.1 "Political Arithmetic" by William. petty
2.4 Treatise on Political Economy by Jean Baptiste Say
Conclusion
Bibliography
classical political economy petty smith
Introduction
Theme of my control work seems irrelevant today. Some economists consider it superfluous to refer to the theories and views of the past, because these theories and views have “overgrown with shells” and have lost their significance, and therefore one should not waste time getting acquainted with them.
Those who hold such a purely negative opinion are relatively few. The vast majority of experts do not share it.
The purpose of my work is to characterize one of the trends in the history of economics, namely classical political economy: the general features that characterize this trend, its most famous representatives and their contribution to economics.
The “classics” presented the processes taking place in the economy in a whole, most enriched form as a sphere of interrelated laws and categories, as a logically coherent system of relations.
The classical school laid a weighty foundation for economic theory, which opened the way for further improvement, deepening and development.
Studying evolution economic concepts, we seek to understand how the process of formation and enrichment of our knowledge about the economy unfolds, how and why many ideas of the past remain relevant today, how they influence our modern ideas.
1. General characteristics of classical political economy
1.1 Definition of classical political economy
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 placed at the center of the economy and economic research labor as a creative force and value as the embodiment of value, 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, profits, land rent taxes. In the depths of the classical school, in fact, economic science was born.
Classical political economy arose when entrepreneurial activity following the trade monetary circulation and lending operations also spread to many industries and the production sector 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.
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." And the specificity, according to Marx, lies in the fact that from W. Petty to D. Ricardo in England and from P. Boisguillebert to S. Sismondi in France, classical political economy “explored the actual production relations of bourgeois society.”
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" have lost their former significance and "free private enterprise" has prevailed. The latter, according to P. Samuelson, led “to 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".
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 debunked mercantilism and the protectionist policy promoted by it in the economy, putting forward an alternative concept of economic liberalism.
In modern foreign economic literature, while paying tribute to the achievements of classical political economy, they do not idealize them. At the same time, in the system of economic education in most countries of the world, the selection of the “classical school” as an appropriate section of the course on the history of economic doctrines is carried out primarily from the point of view of the general characteristics and features inherent in the works of its authors:
Emphasis on the analysis of the problems of production and distribution of material goods;
Development and application of progressive methodological methods of research;
The core of the economic analysis of the classics is the problem of value;
All the classics interpreted value as a value determined by production costs;
The perception of the economic system as a system similar to the objects of study of physics of that time (more precisely, mechanics). This, in turn, led to the following features of the economic analysis of the classical school: the conviction that the market (capitalist) economy is dominated by universal and objective (economic) laws; and ignoring the subjective-psychological factors of economic life.
Underestimation of the role of money and the influence of the sphere of circulation on the sphere of production.
Money was perceived by the classics as a technical means to facilitate exchange. The classics ignored the role of money as the most liquid store of value. The finalist of classical political economy, J. S. Mill, wrote: “In short, one can hardly find in the social economy a thing more insignificant in its importance than money, if one does not touch on the way in which time and labor are saved”;
Great emphasis on the study of the "laws of motion", i.e. patterns of trends, dynamics, capitalist economy.
Negative attitude (with rare exceptions like J.S. Mill) to the active intervention of the state in the economy. The classics, following the physiocrats, advocated the ideology of laissez-faire.
1.2 Stages in the development of classical political economy
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, the Marxist one, points to the period of the first quarter of the 19th century, and the English scientists A. Smith and D. Ricardo are considered to be the finalists of the school. According to the most common in the scientific world, the classics exhausted themselves in the last third of the 19th century. works of J. S. Mill. In the development of classical political economy, with a certain conventionality, four stages can be distinguished.
Firststage 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 first representative and progenitor of the classical school should be considered the English economist W. Petty, whom Marx called "the father of political economy and in some way the inventor of statistics."
Secondstage The development of classical political economy covers the period of the last third of the 18th century. and is associated with the name and works of A. Smith. His influence affected more than one school.
Thirdstage evolution of the classical school falls on the first half of the 19th century, when in a number of developed countries ended industrial revolution. During this period, the followers of Smith 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. The representatives of this stage include J. B. Say, the Englishmen D, Ricardo, T. Malthus and N. Senior, and others. Each of them left a rather noticeable mark in the history of economic thought and the formation of market relations.
Fourth the 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 trends in economic thought were already gaining independent significance, which later received the names “marginalism” ( late XIX century) and “institutionalism” (beginning of the 20th century).
2. The main representatives of classical political economy
2.1 "Political Arithmetic" by William Petty
William Petty (1623-1687) laid the foundation for the formation of the classical school. He is called the founder of statistics, a man who expressed in fragments a lot of interesting considerations and conclusions, opening the way to the creation of economic theory, economic science.
Petty was not interested in the external manifestation, but in the essence of economic processes, he tried to "explain the mysterious nature" of taxes and their consequences, monetary rent, rent from land, money, the sources of wealth. In his opinion, the subject of study of political economy is, first of all, the analysis of the problems of the sphere of production, he believed that the creation and increase of wealth occurs exclusively in the sphere of material production.
In A Treatise on Taxes and Duties, Petty concludes that "there is a certain measure or proportion of money necessary for the conduct of the trade of a country." Excess or lack of money against this measure will harm her. Reducing the metal content of money cannot be a source of wealth.
In his works, he considered what factors are involved in the production of products, the creation of wealth. Petty identifies four factors. The first two - land and labor - are the main ones. He believes that “the assessment of all subjects should be brought to two natural denominators: land and labor, i.e. we should say: the value of a ship or a coat is equal to the value of such and such a quantity of labor, because after all, both the ship and the coat are produced by land and human labor.
The other two factors involved in creating a product are not the main ones. These are qualifications, the art of the worker and the means of his labor - tools, stocks and materials. They make work productive. But both of these factors cannot exist independently; without labor and land.
Thus, Petty considered two measures of value - labor and land. In practice, he proceeded from the fact that in any kind of labor there is something in common that allows you to compare all types of labor with each other.
W. Petty believed that wealth is created primarily by labor and its results.
Petty expressed a number of theses, which contain the initial provisions of the theory of value. Money has value. The amount of money that can be received for a product determines its value. They are determined not directly through labor costs, but indirectly through the costs of producing money (silver and gold) offered for these products. It is not all labor that creates value, but that which is expended in the production of silver.
The incomes of entrepreneurs and landowners are characterized by W. Petty by means of the essentially unified concept of “rent”. In particular, calling the rent from the land the difference between the cost of grain and the costs of its production, he replaced by it such a concept as the farmer's profit.
A hundred years before A. Smith, W. Petty anticipated and put forward many ideas, which he later clarified, brought into logical order, and A. Smith freed from some contradictions and inconsistencies.
2.2 Adam Smith: "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations"
Adam Smith is called the founder of the classical school. It was A. Smith (1723-1790), professor and systematist, armchair scientist and encyclopedically educated researcher, who developed and presented the economic picture of society as a system.
The work of A. Smith "The Wealth of Nations" is not a collection of recommendations, but a work that presents a certain concept in a systematic way. It is full of examples, historical analogies, references to economic practice.
Labortheorycost
What Petty expressed in the form of conjectures, Adam Smith substantiated as a system, an expanded concept. “The wealth of the people does not consist in land alone, not in money alone, but in all things that are suitable for satisfying our needs and for increasing our enjoyment of life.”
Unlike the mercantilists and physiocrats, Smith argued that the source of wealth was not to be found in any particular occupation. Wealth is the product of the combined labor of all - farmers, artisans, sailors, merchants, i.e. representatives various kinds labor and professions. Labor is the source of wealth, the creator of all values.
According to Smith, the true creator of wealth is "the annual labor of every nation" directed for annual consumption. In modern terminology, this is the gross national product(GNP).
He distinguishes between those types of labor that are embodied in material things, and those that, like the labor of a domestic servant, are a service, and services "disappear at the very moment they are provided." Just because labor is useful does not mean that it is productive.
All wealth is created by labor, but the products of labor are not created for themselves, but for exchange (“every person lives by exchange or becomes, to a certain extent, a merchant”). The meaning of a commodity society is that products are produced as commodities for exchange. It's not just that the exchange of goods for goods is equivalent to the labor expended. The result of the exchange is mutually beneficial.
ABOUTdivisionlaborAndexchange
People are bound by the division of labor. It makes the exchange profitable for its participants, and the market, commodity society - efficient. Buying someone else's labor, its buyer saves his own labor.
According to Smith, the division of labor plays the most important role in increasing the productivity of labor and the growth of national wealth. The deeper the division of labor, the more intense the exchange.
"Give me what I need and you will get what you need." "It is in this way that we obtain from each other a far greater part of the services we need" are Smith's statements often quoted by commentators on his work.
"Invisiblehand"marketforces
One of the leading ideas of The Wealth of Nations is about the "invisible hand". The market economy is not managed from a single center, does not obey one common plan. Nevertheless, it functions according to certain rules, follows a certain order.
The paradox or essence of the market mechanism lies in the fact that private interest and the pursuit of one's own benefit benefits society, ensures the achievement of the common good. In a market economy (in a market mechanism) there is an "invisible hand" of market forces, market mechanisms, which implies minimal state intervention and market self-regulation based on free prices, which are formed depending on supply and demand under the influence of competition.
TwoapproachToeducationcost
Considering the problem of pricing and the essence of price, Smith put forward two positions.
The first is that the price of a commodity is determined by the labor expended on it. This provision, in his opinion, is applicable in "primitive societies". And Smith puts forward the second, according to which value, and hence the price, is made up of labor costs, profit, interest on capital, ground rent, i.e. determined by production costs. The essence of these provisions is reflected in Figure 1: the first position is in the form of a solid arrow with the inscription "Labor", and the second is expressed using dotted arrows with the inscriptions "Capital" and "Land".
Principleeconomicfreedom
Smith believed that the market needed to be protected from outside interference. The freedom of economic activity of individuals should not be hindered, it should not be strictly regulated. Smith opposes excessive restrictions on the part of the state, he is for freedom of trade, including foreign trade, for a policy of free trade, against protectionism.
Rolestates,principlestaxation
Without completely rejecting participation in economic life and control by the state, Smith assigns him the role of a “night watchman”, and not a regulator and regulator of economic processes.
Smith identifies three functions that the state is called upon to perform: the administration of justice, the defense of the country, the organization and maintenance of public institutions.
He also argues that the payment of taxes should not be imposed on one class, as suggested by the physiocrats, but on all equally - on labor, on capital and on land.
Smith substantiates the principle of proportional division of the tax burden - according to the level of property solvency of taxpayers.
It is believed that Smith's three postulates (analysis of the "economic man", the "invisible hand" of the market, wealth as an objective function and object economic relations) still determine the vector of economic science. They form the Smith paradigm.
2.3 David Ricardo: "Principles of Political Economy"
David Ricardo (1772-1823) sought to overcome the inconsistency of individual provisions, to more clearly substantiate other provisions, and to develop others more fully.
Ricardo actually continued the formation fundamental principles classical school of political economy and, together with Smith, is considered its founder.
Ricardo's main work is The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1817). Ricardo showed that he, like A. Smith, was primarily interested in the inevitable economic "laws", the knowledge of which would make it possible to control the distribution of income created in the sphere of material production.
Theorycost-positionRicardo
Rejecting Smith's dual assessment of this category, he categorically insists that only one factor "labor" underlies value. According to his formulation, “the value of a commodity, or the quantity of any other commodity for which it is exchanged, depends on the relative quantity of labor which is necessary for its production, and not on the greater or lesser remuneration that is paid for this labour.”
Theorymoney
D. Ricardo's positions on the theory of money were based on the provisions characteristic of the form of the gold coin standard, according to which the legally specified amount of gold in a coin minted for circulation was subject to free and guaranteed exchange of paper money. With this in mind, the author of the "Beginnings" wrote that "neither gold nor any other commodity can always serve as a perfect measure of value for all things." In addition, D. Ricardo was a supporter of the quantity theory of money, linking the change in their value as commodities with their (money) quantity in circulation. He also believed that “money serves as a general medium of exchange between all civilized countries and is distributed among them in proportions that change with every improvement in trade and machines, with every increase in the difficulty of obtaining food and other items. vital necessity for a growing population." Finally, in his opinion, money, as commodities, with a decrease in its value, necessitates an increase in wages, which in turn "... is invariably accompanied by an increase in the price of commodities."
Theoryincome
The income theory of D. Ricardo significantly enriched classical political economy in terms of characterizing the essence of rent, profit and wages.
Ricardo believed that rent was not the result of the "generosity" of nature, but of its "poverty", the lack of rich and fertile plots of land. The source of rent lies in the fact that the land is the property of its owners. If air and water "could be turned into property" and were available in limited quantities, "then they, like land, would give rent",
Justifying the process of rent formation, Ricardo refers to the growth in demand for agricultural products associated with an increase in population) and the process of involving more and more new lands in agricultural circulation.
Rent exists not only in the transition from the best land to the worst. Prerequisites, conditions for its existence - differences in quality, fertility, location of lands, the degree of their cultivation. Rent may also take place when the land is occupied and requires ever greater expenditures of labor and capital. Rent is always paid for the use of land only because the quantity of land is not unlimited, and its quality varies.
Ricardo's theory of rent practical value. The provisions and conclusions substantiated by the English classic were directed against the establishment of high duties on bread.
Ricardo's theory of rent helps to understand his interpretation of the relationships and trends of the main incomes: wages, profits, rents.
At the beginning of his work, in the chapter "On Value", Ricardo argued with Smith, who believed that an increase in wages leads to a change in the value and price of products produced. The value of a commodity, said Ricardo, does not depend on the amount of remuneration for labor, but on the quantity of labor necessary for the production of the commodity; it is determined by the amount of labor embodied in it.
Considering the relationship between the size of profits and wages of workers, Ricardo comes to the conclusion that an increase in nominal wages leads to a decrease in profits, because wages and profits are antagonistic, are in inverse relation to each other. "A rise in wages does not raise the prices of commodities, but invariably lowers profits." "Anything that increases wages necessarily reduces profits."
According to Ricardo, the main trend that characterizes the dynamics of income is as follows: with the development of society, real wages remain unchanged, rent increases, and the level of profit falls.
Theoryreproduction
Ricardo recognized Say's law of markets, i.e., the dogma of a crisis-free and equilibrium state of the economy under full time. In particular, as if in recognition of Say's law, he wrote: “Products are always bought for products or services; money is only the standard by which this exchange takes place. A commodity may be overproduced, and the market will be so crowded that even the capital expended on that commodity will not be replaced. But this cannot happen to all goods at the same time.”
Theory"comparativecosts"
Ricardo proposed the theory of "comparative costs" (comparative advantages), which became the theoretical basis for the policy of "free trade" (free trade) and in modern versions is used to justify and develop the so-called "open economy" policy.
The general meaning of this concept is that if the governments of different countries do not impose any restrictions on foreign trade with each other, the economy of each country begins to gradually specialize in the production of those goods, the production of which requires less labor time. Free trade allows countries to consume as many goods as they did before specialization, minimizing the labor time required to create a given amount of goods. Being a follower of Smith and Malthus, Ricardo made a significant contribution to the development and refinement of various specific problems of economic theory.
2.4 Jean Baptiste Say: "Treatise of Political Economy"
J.B. Say (1767-1832) was the largest representative of the classical school in France, a merchant and entrepreneur, a scientist and professor of industrial economics - known as a popularizer of the works of the founders of the classical school, the creator of his own, subjective concept of value (value). The main work of Zh.B. Say - "A Treatise of Political Economy, or a simple statement of the way in which wealth is formed, distributed and consumed" (1803).
His concepts - to a greater extent than the concepts of other classics - led to the conclusion of the stability and consistency of the capitalist economy, for which he received the most fierce criticism from representatives of many heretical trends in economics - from Marxists to Keynesians.
Whatissourcevalues?
One of the starting points is Say's position on the source of value (cost) of goods and services. Unlike A. Smith, who ultimately reduced the source of income to labor (according to the labor theory of value), Say puts utility rather than labor costs at the forefront: “utility informs objects of value.”
According to Say's concept, the criterion of productivity is utility. Therefore, the labor of artisans and the labor of farmers, the labor of teachers and the labor of doctors should be considered productive.
It is not the material form of the product that is important, but the result of the activity is important. Eventually production activities the service does not have to take the form of a tangible product.
Theoryproductionfactors
The theory of production factors is based on Say's position on the determining role of utility in shaping the value of goods and multiplying wealth.
J. B. Say was the first of the classics to clearly and unambiguously formulate the idea that the value of a commodity is equal to the sum of wages, profits and rent, i.e. the sum of the incomes of the owners of production factors used in the manufacture of this product. At the same time, according to Zh.B. Say, each factor of production participates in the production process, providing its service, and therefore contributes to the creation of the value of goods. The value of this contribution is determined in the market for a particular product. The amount of wages characterizes the contribution of labor, the amount of interest - the contribution of capital, the amount of land rent - the contribution of land. Entrepreneurial profit is reduced by him to the wages of highly skilled labor associated with the organization of production activity, that is, the effective combination of other factors of production. The French economist attached special importance to this type of labor - the labor of an entrepreneur. It is the entrepreneurs who provide the supply of finished goods and present the demand for factors of production, thereby giving employment to the labor force. They also distribute wealth.
LawmarketsSay
As part of his theory of sales markets, Say formulated the law, which was later named after him. According to Say's theory of sales markets, "sales for products are created by production itself", i.e. supply creates demand. These are two equivalent formulations of Say's law.
This law, in turn, leads to the following consequences:
General overproduction is impossible;
What is beneficial for an individual business entity is beneficial for the economy as a whole;
Imports are beneficial to the economy because they are paid for by its products;
Those forces of society that consume but do not produce ruin the economy.
Say's theory of sales markets led to the idea of internal stability and sustainability of the capitalist economy. Unemployment and declines in production should - on its basis - be interpreted as temporary phenomena of no long-term significance. This view of the macroeconomic stability of the market economy was refuted only in the 1930s.
Conclusion
The classical school developed in the second half of the 18th - first half of the 19th century. The economists of the classical school, who replaced the mercantilists, made a significant contribution to the formation of the foundations of economic science.
The classical school made the sphere of production, not circulation, the main object of study; revealed the importance of labor as the basis and measure of the value of all goods, as a source of society's wealth; proved that the economy should be regulated by the market and has its own laws, which are objective, i.e. cannot be abolished by either kings or governments; identified sources of income for all strata of society.
New concepts, provisions, conclusions, to one degree or another, rely on the works and developments of their predecessors, on the terminology developed by them, systematize and streamline the previously accumulated theoretical wealth.
The classical school laid a weighty foundation for economic theory, which opened the way for further improvement, deepening and development.
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 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 merits of the classical school:
1. She made the sphere of production, not circulation, the main object of study.
2. Revealed the importance of labor as the basis and measure of the value of all goods, as a source of wealth in society.
3. Proved that the economy should be regulated by the market and has its own laws, which are objective, i.e. cannot be overruled by kings or governments.
4. Identified sources of income for all sectors of society: entrepreneurs, workers, landowners, bankers, merchants.
Mainideasclassicalpoliticalsavingsare:
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.
All parties involved in an economic transaction are free and equal before the law, and in the sense of foresight and foresight.
Every economic entity is fully aware of prices, profits, wages and rents in any market, both now and in the future.
The market provides full mobility of resources: labor and capital can instantly move to the right place.
The elasticity of the number of workers with respect to wages is not less than one. In other words, every increase in wages leads to an increase in the number of work force, and any decrease in wages - to a decrease in the size of the labor force.
The sole purpose of the capitalist is to maximize the return on capital.
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).
The main factor in increasing wealth is the accumulation of capital. 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.
Bibliography
1. Amosova V.V., Gukasyan G.M., Makhovikova G.A. Economic theory. St. Petersburg: Piter, 2002. 480.: ill. (Series "Textbooks for universities").
2. Bartenev S.A. History of Economic Thought. Moscow: Jurist, 2002.456 p.
3. Bartenev S.A., Economic theories and schools, M., 1996.
4. Blaug M. Economic thought in retrospect. M.: "Delo Ltd", 1994.
5. Voitov A.G. History of Economic Thought. Short Course: Tutorial. 2nd ed. M .: Publishing House "Dashkov and Co", 2001. 104 p.
6. Galbraith J.K. Economic theories and goals of society. Moscow: Progress, 1979.
7. Dadalko V.A. World economy: Proc. allowance. M.: "Urajay", "Interpressservis", 2001. 592 p.
8. Jean-Marie Albertini, Ahmed Silem. "Understand economic theories". A small guide to big currents, translated from French, M., 1996.
9. Zhid Sh., Rist Sh. History of economic doctrines. M.: Economics, 1995.
10. Kondratiev N.D. Fav. op. M.: Economics, 1993.
12. Negeshi T. History of economic theory. M.: Aspect - press, 1995.
13. Yadgarov Ya.S. History of Economic Thought. M., 2000.
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Classical political economy originated in England in the 17th century. It is called classical primarily for the truly scientific nature of many of its theories and methodological provisions, which also underlie modern economics. Its founder is William Petty. The subject of the study of political economy, in his opinion, is the analysis of the problems of the sphere of production, tk. the creation and growth of wealth takes place exclusively in the branches of material production.
Petty identifies four factors of production: land and labor are the main ones, the qualification of the worker and the means of his labor are not the main ones. Thus, he considered two measures of value - labor and land.
An important place in his writings is occupied by the labor theory of value. He distinguished between market and natural prices. The natural price, or value, is determined by the labor expended on the production of a commodity. The market or political price varies depending on the balance of supply and demand.
Based on the labor theory of value, Petty viewed rent as the difference between the value of a commodity and salary needed to keep the worker alive.
Petty took a significant step forward on the question of the price of land. In his opinion, it should represent capitalized rent, i.e. the sum of annuities for a given number of years.
What W. Petty expressed in the form of conjectures, Adam Smith (1723-1790) substantiated as a system, a detailed concept set forth in the scientist’s famous work “A Study on the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”. In it, he singles out the subject of study of economic science - economic development society and improve its well-being.
When explaining economic phenomena, A. Smith proceeds from the assumption of the immutability of human nature. Selfishness is the basis of all economic processes. The common good is formed as a result of the actions of individual individuals, each of which strives for its own benefit. The economic relations of people are formed spontaneously. In his teaching, for the first time, the enormous role of the free market as a regulator of production is shown. It was from him that the popular expression "the invisible hand of the market" came from. Without completely rejecting the participation of the state in economic life and control by the state, Smith assigns him the role of a "night watchman", and not a regulator and regulator of economic processes.
Smith considers production to be the source of wealth; the condition for the growth of wealth is an increase in labor productivity, which is explained by the division of labor. The division of labor itself is due to the natural propensity of people to exchange, and the depth of the division of labor is related to the size of the market. In the product, he distinguishes two components: exchange value and use value. At the same time, labor acts as a source and measure of value. Smith identifies three main types of income: wages, profits and rent.
He first introduced the categories of gross and net income. Gross income is the total social product, including all material costs, including those re-accounted for in sequential processing at different stages technological process. Net income is only newly created value.
In addition, Smith made a significant contribution to the theory of value, the doctrine of income, capital, the origin of money, and the economic policy of the state.
David Riccardo (1772-1823) was the most important economist of the era of the industrial revolution in England. He builds his concept on the labor theory of value. He considers utility as a necessary prerequisite for value, that is, what has no utility cannot have an exchange value.
Riccardo derives the law of money circulation: if the quantity of goods and their price remain unchanged, the amount of money needed for circulation depends on the value of money. Thus, he comes to the quantity theory of money, to the derivation of the value of money from its quantity.
Riccardo considered the problem of distribution to be the main problem of political economy. The source of all income is labor. The size and ratio of the incomes of individual classes are determined not by their contribution to the creation of wealth, but by completely different factors. Riccardo's theory of wages boils down to the proposition that wages are regulated by the cost of the minimum subsistence of workers and cannot be long term rise above this level. Considering the relationship between the size of profits and earnings of workers, Ricardo came to the conclusion that an increase in nominal wages leads to a decrease in profits.
The theory of land rent occupies a special place in his works. According to Riccardo, nature does not participate in the creation of rent, and does not determine the price level. There can be no different prices for the same product in the market. The price of grain grown in areas favorable for agriculture is set at a level corresponding to the value of costs on the worst lands. As a result, producers in best conditions, that is, those who have the best land, receive additional income - land rent.
A certain contribution was made by Riccardo to the theory of foreign trade and above all the principle of comparative advantage. According to his teaching, all countries benefit from international exchange, therefore each country gets the opportunity to save the cost of its labor, specializing in the production of those goods that are more profitable to produce in this country, but not in comparison with other countries, but in comparison with the production of other goods in this particular country. country.
French economist Jean Baptiste Say (1767-1832) entered the history of economic thought as the author of the theory of utility. He put forward a new assumption that utility is created in production, and utility determines the value of a thing. Labor is not the only source of wealth. Three independent factors participate in the creation of utility: labor, capital, land, with the activity of which all production is connected. Say assigned to each factor a part of the total social product: labor - wages, capital - profit, land - rent.
Say's theory of markets became widespread. He came to the conclusion that since every seller is also a buyer, a general sales crisis is impossible, only partial imbalances are possible; everyone is interested in the well-being of all, the prosperity of one industry is favorable for all other industries; those segments of the population that only consume without producing anything do not contribute to the wealth of the country, but ruin it.
The last thesis is refuted by another follower of A. Smith - Thomas Robert Malthus (1766 - 1834), who gained wide popularity with his essay "An Essay on the Law of Population". He proclaimed that the main permanent cause poverty is not in bad governance and not in the uneven distribution of wealth, but in the disproportion between the limited resources of nature and the claims of an increasing population. In this regard, T. Malthus considered one of the main causes of wars to be “lack of space and food”. The population, according to his calculations, doubles every 25 years, growing exponentially, and the means of subsistence under the most favorable conditions cannot increase faster than in arithmetic progression. It follows that helping the poor in need does not make sense, as this will lead to an even greater demographic "explosion".
Representatives of the classical school outlined the range of fundamental problems, formulated the main tasks facing economic science, created research tools, without which its further development would be impossible.
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, also spread to many branches of industry 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) solution of 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 "advisors 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 disintegration of mercantilism and the strengthening of the growing trend of limiting direct state control over 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 was a steady expansion of the economic functions of the state”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 visibility 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 link 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, illegally 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 the industrial revolution ended in a number of developed countries. 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 size 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 the 19th 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 names "marginalism" (the end of the 19th century) and "institutionalism" (the beginning of the 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.
Firstly, the rejection of protectionism in the economic policy of 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 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 days of classical political economy, there has been no other economic problem, and N. Kondratiev also pointed to 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 the problem of value. 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 adherence to 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 free market economy provides the best device life. 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. All economic system 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 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 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 family, but also to a certain extent for development. Consequently, the natural price of labor is a value category.
According to Ricardo, market price labor fluctuates around the natural under the influence 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.
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 issues, 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 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. "With other equal conditions 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 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 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 situation. 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 forethought.
3. Every economic entity is fully aware of prices, profits, wages and rents in any market, both now and 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.
Continuing the general characterization of 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.
Firstly, the rejection of protectionism in the economic policy of 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.” 17 . 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 cost principle of determining the level of prices by the classical school was not linked to another important aspect of 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. A few decades later (1962), von Mises made a similar point. “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 with 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 derivatives of the category 21 in their essence 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 adherence to 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” 23 . 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 the emergence of real phenomena” 24 .
Fourthly, when studying the problems of 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.
Questions and tasks for control
1. What are the socio-economic prerequisites for the emergence of classical political economy? Describe the opposite essence and orientation of the principles of protectionism and laissezfaire.
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the subject of study and methodology of economic analysis of classical political economy compared to mercantilism? Explain why it is impossible to consider the source of national wealth either in the sphere of circulation or in the sphere of production.
3. Highlight the criteria for periodization of the stages of evolution of the "classical school". Give the arguments of K. Marx about the time of completion of "bourgeois classical political economy".
4. What is the essence of the common features of classical political economy? Why did the "classics" underestimate the principle "money matters" in the creation of national wealth and proceeded from the principle of self-organization and automatic equilibrium of the economy?
5. Explain the inconsistency of the costly principle of determining the cost of goods and services by the "classics" according to labor theory or the theory of production costs.
Anikin A.V. The youth of science. M.: Politizdat, 1985. Blaug M. Economic thought in retrospect. M.: "Delo Ltd", 1994.
Galbraith J.K. Economic theories and goals of society. Moscow: Progress, 1979.
Gide Sh., Rist III. History of Economic Thought. M.: Economics, 1995.
Kondratiev N.D. Fav. op. M.: Economics, 1993.
Leontiev V.V. Economic Essays. Moscow: Politizdat, 1990.
Marx K., Engels F. Op. 2nd ed. T. 23.
Mises L. background. About some common misconceptions about the subject of economic science //THESIS. 1994. Vol. II. Issue. 4.
Samuelson P. Economics: In 2 vols. M .: NPO Algon, 1992.
Seligman Ben B. Main currents of modern economic thought. Moscow: Progress, 1968.
Schumpeter J. Theory of economic development. Moscow: Progress, 1982.
Lecture 5. The first stage in the evolution of classical political economy
This topic will introduce you to:
That U. Petty and P. Boisguillebert are the founders of the labor (cost) theory of the cost of goods and services;
That with the advent of the teachings of the physiocrats, the “classics”, moving further, “fell into a rut of static representation” (I. Schumpeter), but at the same time they designated “already a system of theoretical economic views” (N. Kondratiev);
How did the physiocrats “provide an analysis of capital within the limits of the bourgeois outlook” and became “the real fathers of modern political economy” (K. Marx);
What meaning did the ideologists of physiocracy invest in the concept of “pure product” introduced by them;
What were the first variants of the division of society into classes proposed by the physiocrats;
What was the first analytical concept of the circulation of economic life in the theory of reproduction put forward by F. Quesnay.