IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bas/econth/y2006i7p89-108.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Liberal World of a Classic and Social Welfare

Author

Listed:
  • Lyuben Kirev

Abstract

This article to dedicated to the 230th anniversary of the publishing of Adam Smith`s work “The Wealth of Nations” (9 March, 1776). The subject of our study is the liberal world of Smith and social welfare. We highlight his contribution as a founder of the “homo economiqus” model, which asserts that self-interest underlies economic activity. Special attention is given to the benefits in micro- and macroeconomic aspect from free foreign trade, the negative effects of monopolistic trade companies and the understanding of the cosmopolitan nature of capital, substantiated by Smith. We specify the place he earmarks for the state in economy. The subject of our study are also Smith`s early ideas of the external factors /externals/, the restructuring of natural monopolies and the state as a bad proprietor. Arguing against several authors, who ascribe in a far-fetched manner the idea of optimal distribution of resources to the neoclassic economists, we uphold the understanding that rudiments of this idea are available as early as Smith and there are grounds that he can be deservedly ranked among the forerunners of institutionalism. The new reading of Smith`s works is not only an assessment of his merits and his personality, but it is also an explanation of the present, and a look into the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Lyuben Kirev, 2006. "The Liberal World of a Classic and Social Welfare," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 7, pages 89-108.
  • Handle: RePEc:bas:econth:y:2006:i:7:p:89-108
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/issuedetails.aspx?issueid=1a8a90e5-a325-422e-b5cb-2c8918d97755&articleid=24aea08f-894c-4a1c-82b4-b7f58eb718fd#a24aea08f-894c-4a1c-82b4-b7f58eb718fd
    Download Restriction: Free access
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • B12 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Classical (includes Adam Smith)
    • B31 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - Individuals

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bas:econth:y:2006:i:7:p:89-108. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Diana Dimitrova (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ikbasbg.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.