classical economics

American  

noun

1. a system or school of economic thought developed by Adam Smith, Jeremy Bentham, Thomas Malthus, and David Ricardo, advocating minimum governmental intervention, free enterprise, and free trade, considering labor the source of wealth and dealing with problems concerning overpopulation.

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Other Word Forms

• classical economist
  noun

Example Sentences

She is the rational actor of classical economics, as imagined for instance by Adam Smith.

From Salon • Dec. 25, 2021

In classical economics, caps on rent increases were believed to limit the incentives to build new housing.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 20, 2019

For example, in the case of the credit card debt, classical economics would predict that people should do whatever maximizes their money.

From Science Magazine • Oct. 9, 2017

Since you have demonstrated a complete and utter disregard for classical economics, could you at least explain the assumption that your unclassical economic philosophy is guided by?

From New York Times • Dec. 30, 2016

That the new bank-credit, without the painful preliminary "abstinence" which the classical economics has stressed, is enough to provide capital for a new enterprise is, as Schumpeter insists, true.

From The Value of Money by Anderson, Benjamin M.