Classical political economy

The Scottish philosopher Adam Smith (1723–90) is generally considered to be the founder of the classical school in economics. His famous Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations was published in 1776, and we may regard this year as the beginning of the classical period, which lasted about one hundred years. The Irishman John Elliot Cairnes (1823–75) is sometimes regarded as the last important classical writer, publishing his Leading Principles of Political Economy Newly Expounded in 1874. Between them we find as main figures the Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Say (1767–1832) and the Britons Thomas Robert Malthus (1766–1834), David Ricardo (1772–1823), Nassau William Senior (1790–1864), James Mill (1780–1864) and his son John Stuart Mill (1806–73). We also find the German Karl Marx (1818–83), the famous critic of classical political economy, who nevertheless used the analytical tools of the classical school.