Abstract

CORSI, Marcella. The Theory of Economic Change: A Comparative Study of Marshall and the “Classics”. Inv. Econ [online]. 2005, vol.64, n.253, pp.15-42. ISSN 0185-1667.

This paper deals with two alternative answers to Smith's question 'What are the causes of the Wealth of Nations?'

On the one hand, Marshallian equilibrium theory focuses on static increasing returns and assumes that the conditions of production and the demand for a commodity can be considered, in respect to small variations, as being practically independent. On the Other hand, in a classical perspective, economic progress consists of a cumulative and self-perpetuating process of change: established positions are constantly under pressure because the division of labour is at once a cause and an effect of economic progress.

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