古典经济学(classical economics)
英国经济学派。18世纪後期由亚当斯密创立，到李嘉图）和弥尔时臻於成熟。古典经济学是最早涉及经济成长动力的学说，反对重商主义学说，强调经济自由，主要是自由放任主义和自由竞争的思想。其许多基本概念和原理是由亚当斯密在《国富论》（1776）中提出的，主张当人民依照私利行动时，国家所创造的财富是最大的。新古典经济学家如马歇尔表示供求量会分配经济资源予最有效的使用。亚当斯密的思想被李嘉图加以阐述和发展，强调在自由竞争条件下生产和销售产品的价值（即价格）总是要同生产中所花费的劳动费用成正比。弥尔在《政治经济学原理》（1848）中重新阐述了李嘉图的一些理论，这一着作标志着古典经济学发展的高峰。後来有人修改古典经济学学说而产生极为不同的结论，其中包括马克思和凯因斯。
English version：
classical economics
School of economic thought largely centered in Britain that originated with Adam Smith and reached maturity in the works of David Ricardo and John Stuart Mill. The theories of the classical school were mainly concerned with the dynamics of economic growth. Reacting against mercantilism, classical economics emphasized economic freedom. It stressed ideas such as laissez-faire and free competition. Many of the fundamental principles of classical economics were set forth in Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776), in which he argued that a nation's wealth was greatest when its citizens followed their own self-interest. Neoclassical economists such as Alfred Marshall showed that the forces of supply and demand would ration economic resources to their most effective uses. Smith's ideas were elaborated and refined by Ricardo, who formulated the principle that the price of goods produced and sold under competitive conditions tends to be proportionate to the labor costs incurred in producing them. Mill's Principles of Political Economy (1848) gave the ideas greater currency by relating them to contemporary social conditions. Among those who have modified classical economics to reach very different conclusions are Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes.