ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of the book. The book involves in regarding the characteristic features of the Classical economists' approach to economic problems, and its resumption in modern times, which in important respects differs markedly from the later marginalist or neoclassical approach. An important development concerns the growing reference to Piero Sraffa's insights into Classical economic thought as they are contained in his hitherto unpublished papers and correspondence. This involves doctrinal questions such as to what extent Sraffa built upon the analyses of the physiocrats, David Ricardo or Karl Marx. The book discusses to particular problems Sraffa dealt with in Production of Commodities (PC) by Means of Commodities only in passing, especially the problem of exhaustible resources and the problem of the pattern of utilisation of durable instruments of production. Finally there is the problem of scrutinising critically alternative theories or economic models against the background of the Classical approach.
