Abstract
The classical economists dealt with many of the issues now addressed by modern growth theories, albeit with different theoretical tools and with different perspectives. Classical analyses of the division of labour, population growth, and the difficulties when factors are in fixed supply, continue to have modern applications. However, the models they developed ran into difficulties after the ‘marginalist revolution’, when it became apparent that sustained technical change, abstinence and thrift by the labouring classes, and factor substitution might forestall the arrival of the stationary state.
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Acknowledgment
The author would like to thank Robert Allen, Julia Cartwright, Mary Dixon-Woods, Marcel Fafchamps, Nicholas Fawcett, Andrew Glyn, Mark Koyama, Silvia Palano, and Jonathan Temple for helpful comments on a preliminary draft.
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Cameron, G. (2018). Classical Economics and Economic Growth. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_2833
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_2833
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