Abstract
Nobel Laureate W. A. Lewis (1988) has traced the roots of the subject of economic development to Britain in the century and a half running from about 1650 to Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations (1776). Lewis indicates that much of the development theory of today is already to be found in the writings of the eighteenth century, especially in those of Hume (1748), Steuart (1767), and Smith.1 The essays in this volume build upon that classical heritage. Focusing on both the history of thought and development policy, they illuminate the evolution from classical economics to development economics. As such, they are prompted by the grand theme of classical economics — the development of the “progressive state”.
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© 1994 Gerald M. Meier
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Meier, G.M. (1994). The “Progressive State” in Classical Economics. In: Meier, G.M. (eds) From Classical Economics to Development Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23342-7_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23342-7_2
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