Great Economists: Classical Economics and Its Forerunners

What you will learn

This free video course covers the history of economic thought up until the "Marginal Revolution" in the 1870s and features a video for each chapter of Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations." The videos answer important questions such as: Who were the first economic thinkers? What are the very origins of economic thought? What did earlier economists understand but has been lost to the modern world? Why is Adam Smith the greatest economist of all time? How did the economic issues of the 18th and 19th centuries shape the thoughts of the classical economists?

This course is non-technical and is accessible to a beginner.

1. Before Adam Smith, Part 1

Galileo and the theory of value

School of Salamanca

Why did economics develop so slowly?

Isaac Gervaise

Cesare Beccaria

Montesquieu

Introduction to Mercantilism

Nicholas Barbon

Sir William Petty

Bernard Mandeville

2. Before Adam Smith, Part 2

John Law

Richard Cantillon

Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot

Francois Quesnay

David Hume on interest

David Hume on the balance of trade

David Hume on public debt

David Hume on money

David Hume on taxes

Which ideas were developed in early classical economics?

3. Adam Smith

Life of Adam Smith

Adam Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiments

Adam Smith’s Theory of Growth

What I learned from Adam Smith

Adam Smith and the Industrial Revolution

Adam Smith, Intro to Wealth of Nations

4. Wealth of Nations, Book One

Adam Smith, Book 1, Ch 1, Division of Labor

Adam Smith, Book 1, Ch. 2, Truck and Barter

Adam Smith, Book 1, Ch. 3, Extent of the Market

Adam Smith, Book 1, Ch. 4, Origin and Use of Money

Adam Smith, Book 1, Ch. 5, Real and Nominal Price

Adam Smith, Book 1, Ch. 6, Component Parts of Price

Adam Smith, Book 1, Ch. 7, Natural Price and Market Price

Adam Smith, Book 1, Ch. 8, Wages of Labor

Adam Smith, Book 1, Ch. 9, Profits of Stock

Adam Smith, Book 1, Ch. 10, Inequalities of Wages

Adam Smith, Book 1, Ch. 11, Rent of Land

Adam Smith, Book 1, Ch. 11, Digression on Silver

5. Wealth of Nations, Book Two

Adam Smith, Book 2, Ch. 1, Nature and Division of Stock

Adam Smith, Book 2, Ch. 2, Of Money

Adam Smith, Book 2, Ch. 3, Unproductive Labor

Adam Smith, Book 2, Ch. 4, Interest and Usury

Adam Smith, Book 2, Ch. 5, Employment of Capitals

6. Wealth of Nations, Book Three

Adam Smith, Book 3, Ch. 1, Progress of Opulence

Adam Smith, Book 3, Ch. 2, Discouragement of Agriculture

Adam Smith, Book 3, Ch. 3, Cities and Towns

Adam Smith, Book 3, Ch. 4, Towns and Country

7. Wealth of Nations, Book Four

Adam Smith, Book 4, Ch. 1, Mercantile Systems

Adam Smith, Book 4, Ch. 2, Restraints Upon Production

Adam Smith, Book 4, Ch. 3, 4-5

Adam Smith, Book 4, Ch. 6, Commerce Treaties

Adam Smith, Book 4, Ch. 7, Of Colonies

Adam Smith, Book 4, Ch. 8, Mercantile Conclusions

Adam Smith, Book 4, Ch. 9, Agricultural Systems

Adam Smith, Book 4, Digression on Corn

8. Wealth of Nations, Book Five

Adam Smith, Book 5, Ch. 1, pt. 1, Expense of Defense

Adam Smith, Book 5, Ch. 1, pt. 2, Expense of Justice

Adam Smith, Book 5, Ch. 1, pt. 3, Public Works

Adam Smith, Book 5, Ch. 1, pt. 3, article 2, Education of Youth

Adam Smith, Book 5, Ch. 1, pt. 3, article 3, Religious Instruction

Adam Smith, Book 5, Ch. 1, pt. 4, Expense of the Sovereign

Adam Smith, Book 5, Ch. 2, pt. 1-2, Sources of the Public Revenue

Adam Smith, Book 5, Ch. 2, pt. 3, article 4, Taxes on Commodities

Adam Smith in the Custom House

9. After Adam Smith, Part One

Condorcet

Jean-Baptiste Say

Malthus on population

Malthus on demand

Jeremy Bentham on government debt

Introduction to Ricardo

Ricardo on rent

Life of Robert Torrens

Robert Torrens and sliding tariffs

Robert Torrens on strategic trade policy

Henry Thornton

Mountifort Longfield

Edward Gibbon Wakefield

10. After Adam Smith, Part Two

Frederic Bastiat on the Seen and Unseen

Frederic Bastiat and the Candlemakers’ Petition

John Stuart Mill, terms of trade

J.S. Mill on money and demand

Life of John Stuart Mill

Mill on Bentham

How the Dismal Science Got Its Name

Friedrich List

Cournot

Dupuit

Von Thunen

John Snow

Eugen Slutsky

11. Practical issues faced by the classical economists

Economists in Parliament

The debates over debt

Bullionist debates, Part I

Bullionist debates, Part II

Living standards during the Industrial Revolution

The Poor law debates

The Machinery question

The Corn Law debates

Peel’s Act of 1844 and the Currency School

The India question

12. Friedrich A. Hayek’s Individualism and Economic Order

Hayek on Individualism and Spontaneous Order

Hayek on Economics and Knowledge

Hayek on Social Science Facts

Hayek on the Use of Knowledge in Society

Hayek on Competition and Discovery

Profit and Loss Calculation

Hayek on Socialist Calculation

Hayek on the Gold Standard and Commodity Reserve Currency

Hayek on the Ricardo Effect

Hayek on Interstate Federalism and Free Trade

What I Learned from Hayek