Kreyziel A.

Cain BA 2-A

1. ADAM SMITH
Adam Smith, considered to be the founding father of modern Economics, defined
Economics as the study of the nature and causes of nations wealth or simply as the study of
wealth.The central point in Smiths definition is wealth creation. Implicitly, Smith identified
wealth with welfare. He assumed that, the wealthier a nation becomes the happier are its
citizens. Thus, it is important to find out, how a nation can be wealthy. Economics is the subject
that tells us how to make a nation wealthy. Adam Smiths definition is a wealth-centred
definition of Economics.

2. LIONEL ROBBINS
The next important definition of Economics was due to Prof. Lionel Robbins. In
his book Essays on the Nature and Significance of the Economic Science, published in
1932, Robbins gave a definition which has become one of the most popular definitions
of Economics. According to Robbins, Economics is a science which studies human
behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative
uses. A long line of economists after Robbins, including Scitovsky and Cassel agreed
with this definition and carried on their analysis in line with this definition. It is a
scarcity-based definition of Economics.

3. JOHN STUART MILL

John Stuart Mill is the originator of Social Welfare Economics, which is a body of
economic theory that argues that an economy that is as prosperous as capitalism has
the ability, responsibility, and self-interest to ensure that everyone in the society shares
in the benefits of the economy. The essence of this view is that the economy ought to
produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people. This is a major aspect of
Utilitarianism. While he was a proponent of free markets, he argued that government
intevention was justified if it was in the interest of society as whole. In other words, if it
produced more benefits for more people. Thus, he supported progressive taxation, an
end to slavery, universal suffrage, women's equality, public education, and other
casues. Social welfare economics became the basis for both the Social Democratic
economies of northern Europe and the "welfare state", a government that seeks to re-
distribute inequitable levels of wealth to ensure that even the poorest in the
population participate in and benefit from the economy.

4. THOMAS ROBERT MALTHUS

He is best known for his popularization of the economic theory of rent. He was
one of those economists who played a crucial role in the development of classical
economics as the first modern school of economic thought. Malthus was one of the most
influential and controversial figures in the field of economics and politics. His major
contribution to this field came in the form of the Malthusian growth model.