Adam Smith, a Scot and a philosopher who lived from 1723 to 1790, is considered the founder of modern economics.

After two centuries, Adam Smith remains a towering figure in the history of economic thought. Known primarily for a
single workAn Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations(1776), the first comprehensive
system of political economySmith is more properly regarded as a social philosopher whose economic writings
constitute only the capstone to an overarching view of political and social evolution. If his masterwork is viewed in
relation to his earlier lectures on moral philosophy and government, as well as to allusions in The Theory of Moral
Sentiments(1759) to a work he hoped to write on the general principles of law and government, and of the different
revolutions they have undergone in the different ages and periods of society, then The Wealth of Nations may be
seen not merely as a treatise on economics but also as a partial exposition of a much larger scheme of historical
evolution
Karl Marx-a German economist and political scientist who lived from 1818 to 1883, looked at capitalism from a more
pessimistic and revolutionary viewpoint. Where Adam Smith saw harmony and growth, Marx saw instability, struggle,
and decline. Marx believed that once the capitalist (the guy with the money and the organizational skills to build a
factory) has set up the means of production, all value is created by the labor involved in producing whatever is being
produced. In Marx's view, presented in his 1867 tome Das Kapital (Capital), a capitalist's profits come from exploiting
laborthat is, from underpaying workers for the value that they are actually creating. For this reason, Marx couldn't
abide the notion of a profit-oriented organization. Marx predicted the fall of capitalism and movement of society
toward communism, in which the people (that is, the workers) own the means of production and thus have no need
to exploit labor for profit. Clearly, Marx's thinking had a tremendous impact on many societies, particularly on the
USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) in the twentieth century.
John Maynard Keynes- a British economist and financial genius who lived from 1883 to 1946, also examined
capitalism and came up with some extremely influential views. In 1936, he published his General Theory of
Employment, Interest, and Money. They mainly involve people's propensity to spend or to save their additional money
as their incomes rise, and the effects of increases in spending on the economy as a whole. The larger significance of
Keynes's work lies in the view he put forth about the role of government in a capitalist economy. Keynes was writing
during the Great Depression. It's worth noting at this point that in the United States unemployment reached about 25
percent and millions of people had lost their life savings as well as their jobs. Moreover, there was no clear path out of
the depression, which led people to seriously question whether Smith's invisible hand was still guiding things along.
The validity and desirability of Keynes's prescription for a sluggish economyusing government spending to prime the
pumpare still debated today
John Stuart Mill-The eldest son of economist James Mill, John Stuart Mill was educated according to the rigorous
expectations of his Benthamite father. He was taught Greek at age three and Latin at age eight. By the time he
reached young adulthood John Stuart Mill was a formidable intellectual, albeit an emotionally depressed one. After
recovering from a nervous breakdown, he departed from his Benthamite teachings to shape his own view of political
economy. In Principles of Political Economy,which became the leading economics textbook for forty years after it
was written, Mill elaborated on the ideas of DAVID RICARDO and ADAM SMITH. He helped develop the ideas of economies
of scale, OPPORTUNITY COST and COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE in trade. Mills Principles of Political Economy was first
published in 1848, and it went through various editions; the final edition was the seventh, which appeared in
1871. Political Economy is the term nineteenth-century writers use to refer to the study of what we today call
macroeconomics, though its practitioners, such as Adam Smith, Mill, David Ricardo, and Karl Marx, were more
philosophical and less empirical in their methods than modern economists.
Lon Walras- (1834-1910), whose full name was Marie Esprit Lon Walras is celebrated among economists and
econometricians as the first to have formulated a multiequational general equilibrium model of economic relationships.
He was born on December 16, 1834, in vreux, a provincial town of Normandy, France.i n a theoretical work that
assumes a regime of perfectly free competition, Walras constructed a mathematical model in which productive
factors, products, and prices automatically adjust in equilibrium. In doing so, he tied together the theories of
production, exchange, money, and capital. Walras also advocated the abolition of taxes and the nationalization of
private land to generate revenue for the government.
Alfred Marshall-(born July 26, 1842, London, Englanddied July 13, 1924, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire), one of the
chief founders of the school of English neoclassical economists and the first principal of University College, Bristol
(187781). Marshalls Principles of Economics (1890) was his most important contribution to economic literature. It
was distinguished by the introduction of a number of new concepts, such as elasticity of demand, consumers surplus,
quasirent, and the representative firmall of which played a major role in the subsequent development of economics.
In this work Marshall emphasized that the price and output of a good are determined by supply and demand, which act
like blades of the scissors in determining price. This concept has endured: modern economists trying to understand
changes in the price of a particular good start by looking for factors that may have shifted the demand or supply
curves.
Irving Fisher-(born February 27, 1867, Saugerties, New York, U.S.died April 29, 1947, New
Haven, Connecticut), American economist best known for his work in the field of capital theory. He also contributed

to the development of modern monetary theory. Fishers crusading spirit led him to embrace many reformist causes,
including health, eugenics, conservation, prohibition, and the League of Nations. He also proved himself an able
businessman, earning a fortune in 1910 by marketing a card-index file system he had devised. Moreover, in 1926 he
was one of the founders of Remington Rand, Inc., and he served on its board of directors until his death.
Thorstein Veblen, in full Thorstein Bunde Veblen -(born July 30, 1857, Manitowoc county, Wisconsin, U.S.
died Aug. 3, 1929, near Menlo Park,California), American economist and social scientist who sought to apply an
evolutionary, dynamic approach to the study of economic institutions. With The Theory of the Leisure
Class (1899) he won fame in literary circles, and, in describing the life of the wealthy, he coined phrases
conspicuous consumption and pecuniary emulationthat are still widely used.
David Ricardo- (born April 18/19, 1772, London, Englanddied September 11, 1823, Gatcombe
Park, Gloucestershire), English economist who gave systematized, classical form to the rising science of economics in
the 19th century. His laissez-faire doctrines were typified in his Iron Law of Wages, which stated that all attempts to
improve the real income of workers were futile and that wages perforce remained near the subsistence level.
Thomas Robert Malthus- (born Feb. 13/14, 1766 died Dec. 29, 1834, St. Catherine), English economist and
demographer who is best known for his theory that population growth will always tend to outrun the food supply
and that betterment of humankind is impossible without stern limits on reproduction. This thinking is commonly
referred to as Malthusianism.
Mercantilism(Economics) -Also called: mercantile system economics a theory prevalent in Europe during the 17th a
nd 18th centuries assertingthat the wealth of a nation depends on its possession of precious metals and therefore that
the government of a nation must maximizethe foreign trade surplus, and foster national commercial interests, a merch
ant marine, the establishment of colonies, etc
Physiocrat- any of a school of economists founded in 18th-century France and characterized chiefly by a belief that
government policy should not interfere with the operation of natural economic laws and that land is the source of all
wealth. It is generally regarded as the first scientific school of economics.
Marginalist- one that believes in the use of marginal analysis in economics
The term "Economic Institutions" refers to two things:
o

Specific agencies or foundations, both government and private, devoted to collecting or studying
economic data, or commissioned with the job of supplying a good or service that is important to the
economy of a country. The Internal Revenue Service (the IRSthe government tax-collection agency),
the U.S. Federal Reserve (the government producer of money), the National Bureau of Economic
Research (a private research agency) are all examples of economic institutions.

Well-established arrangements and structures that are part of the culture or society, e.g., competitive
markets, the banking system, kids' allowances, customary tipping, and a system of property rights are
examples of economic institutions.