At the present stage in society there are very different ideas about the economy. First of all, economics is a word of ancient Greek origin, literally meaning “housekeeping” (oikos - house, household; nomos - doctrine, law). It was first found among the Greek thinkers Xenophon and Aristotle, who so designated the doctrine of housekeeping.

Today term "economics" used in three meanings. This is what they call:

All National economy country or part of it, including industries and certain types of material production and non-production spheres (industry, Agriculture, transport, construction, housing and communal services, etc.).

the totality of relationships between people in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material and intangible goods and services necessary to satisfy the diverse needs corresponding to this level development of productive forces.

A scientific discipline that studies a system economic activity people, principles and laws of its organization (economic theory), as well as its individual constituent elements (for example, labor economics, managerial economics, industrial economics). In this sense, economics is an expression in a system of categories, concepts and laws of relationships and processes of the objective world. The focus is on the problem of people using limited resources to produce goods and services in order to satisfy their needs.

Any science must have its own item(what is being researched) and research method (how is being researched).

Item economic theory as a science in the modern understanding was not determined immediately and was the result of a long historical development. During the development of economic theory as a science, views on its subject also changed, and here, with a certain degree of convention, three main stages (periods) can be distinguished:

Saving - as a set of knowledge on organizing the economy;

political economy - as a reflection of the emergence of systematized knowledge about the essence, goals and objectives of the economic system;

Economics - as a modern stage of evolutionary development economic science, taking into account changes in research methodology and approaches to analysis economic processes, phenomena. The focus is on the problems of people using limited resources to produce goods and services in order to satisfy their needs.

Indeed, if we consider the initial stages of the formation of economic science (ancient world, medieval period), then there is no need to talk about any clear definition of its subject, since economic problems were not isolated into an independent area for research. This period corresponds to the term "economy".

The decomposition of feudalism and the emergence of capitalism led to the emergence of an independent science - political economy. This happened when the first school in economic science appeared - mercantilism (mid-15th - mid-18th centuries). One of the prominent representatives of mercantilism, A. Montchretien, published his “Treatise of Political Economy” in 1615, which gave the name to the future science.

If we consider the evolution of approaches to defining the subject of economic theory within the framework of various scientific directions and schools, we can see how diverse they are.

Representatives of mercantilism considered national wealth, which they identified with money, to be the subject of economic science.

Representatives of classical bourgeois political economy in both England and France also considered the wealth of the nation to be the subject of economic science, although they saw its source in production, i.e. the subject of their analysis was the sphere of production. However, specific schools had their own characteristics: for example, the physiocrats considered only labor in agriculture to be the source of wealth, and the main figures of the English school expanded the subject of political economy to the study of the conditions of production and accumulation (A. Smith), as well as distribution (D. Ricardo) national wealth created in all sectors of material production.

The subject of study of Marxist political economy in accordance with the class approach to the analysis of social life was only production relations (i.e. relations of production, distribution, exchange, consumption), which were considered as a necessary side of social production.

Representatives of the historical school defined as the subject of economic science the study of the daily activities of people, the national or social economy.

Representatives of the Austrian school and the neoclassical school of economic thought, who actively used the methodology of marginalism, considered the behavior of individuals and social institutions (firms, groups, people, etc.), the ways and means of achieving their goals in conditions of limited resources, as the subject of economic science. For example, A. Marshall defined the subject of economic theory as the study of the normal functioning of human society - the study of wealth and partly of man, more precisely of incentives for action and motives for counteraction. This approach clearly emphasizes the role of humans in the economy.

Representatives of the Keynesian trend, as the subject of economic theory, highlighted the patterns of functioning of the national economy as a single whole, focusing on the problems of development and implementation economic policy states.

Thus, we can conclude that in the course of the historical development of economic science, different approaches to understanding its subject have been formed. Obviously, many of them are not mutually exclusive; they specify and detail the levels and directions of research. With the change in approaches to the interpretation of the subject of economic science, there was a corresponding change in its name - from economics to political economy, from political economy to economics.

Despite the many approaches, in modern Western literature there is a relative unity of opinions on defining the subject of economics as a science. In support of this, we cite the definitions presented by P. Samuelson and K. McConnell and S. Brew.

"Economic theory is the science of which of the rare productive resources people and society, over time, with or without the help of money, select for the production of various goods and their distribution for consumption in the present and future among various people and groups of society" . See: Samuelson P. Economics. – M., 1992. – P. 7.

“The subject of economics is the search for the efficient use of rare resources in the production of goods and services to satisfy material needs.” See: McConnell K., Brew S. Economics: principles, problems and policies. – M., 1993. – P.18.

Thus, in general, the subject of economic theory is the activities of people using limited resources to produce goods and services in order to satisfy their needs.

2. Main stages in the development of economic theory

3. Economic systems and their essence.

The totality of all economic processes occurring in society on the basis of the property relations and organizational forms operating in it represents economic system this society. Having understood the essence of the system, you can understand many patterns economic life society.

Elements of the economic system. The main elements of the economic system are:

Socio-economic relations based on the forms of ownership of property that have developed in each economic system economic resources and results of economic activities;

organizational forms of economic activity;

economic mechanism, i.e. regulation method economic activity at the macroeconomic level;

Specific economic ties between business entities.

In the last one and a half to two centuries, there have been Various types economic systems: two market systems in which the market economy dominates - a market economy of free competition (pure capitalism) and a modern market economy (modern capitalism) and two non-market systems - traditional and administrative-command. Within a particular economic system, there are diverse models economic development individual countries and regions.

Let us consider the characteristic features of the main types of economic systems.

Market economy with free competition (pure capitalism). Although this system developed in the 18th century. and ceased to exist at the end of the 19th - in the first decades of the 20th century. (V different countries in different ways), but many of its elements have become part of the modern market system.

The distinctive features of a market economy with free competition were:

Private ownership of investment resources;

market mechanism regulation of macroeconomic activities based on free competition;

The presence of many independently operating buyers and sellers of each product and product.

One of the main prerequisites for the emergence of pure capitalism is the personal freedom of all participants in economic activity - not only the capitalist entrepreneur, but also the hired worker.

Freedom became the decisive condition for economic progress entrepreneurial activity those who had capital. A new level of development has been reached human factor - the main productive force of society. The employee and the capitalist-entrepreneur acted as legally equal agents of market relations. The concept of "free" employee“implies the right to freely choose the buyer of labor power, the place of its sale, i.e. freedom of movement within the labor market. Like any commodity owner who sold his goods and received money for it, the hired worker had the freedom to choose items and ways to satisfy needs. The flip side of the freedom to choose the direction of development was personal responsibility for maintaining the workforce in good condition, for the correctness of the decision made, for compliance with the terms of the employment agreement.

The fundamental tasks of economic development in the economic system under consideration are solved indirectly, through prices and the market. Price fluctuations, their higher or lower levels serve as an indicator of social needs. Focusing on market conditions, the level and dynamics of prices, the commodity producer independently solves the problem of allocating all types of resources, producing those goods that are in demand on the market.

Entrepreneurs strive to receive more and more income (profit), to use natural, labor and investment resources as economically as possible and to realize as widely as possible such a resource as their creative and organizational (so-called entrepreneurial) abilities in their chosen field of activity. This serves as a powerful incentive for the development and improvement of production and reveals the creative possibilities of private property.

4. Methodology of economic theory.

The roots of ideas about the subject of economic theory lie, on the one hand, in philosophy, and on the other, in debates about pressing problems and difficulties.

Aristotle can be considered the first economist. His merit lies in the fact that he was the first to highlight the series economic categories and showed the relationship between them. Thus, Aristotle distinguishes two sides to the product: consumer and price. Interpreting the concept cost, he considered two directions:

• 1) objective (from the position of the labor theory of value);
• 2) subjective (utility theory),

which gave rise to a duality in economic theory that continues to this day.

In general, thinkers of the Middle Ages associated the subject of economic theory with the discussion of specific problems and their solution. The main attention was paid to the sphere of circulation.

The birth of economic science is associated with mercantilism as the first school of economic theory. Mercantilists extolled and absolutized the creative role of trade. One of the representatives of this school was Antoine de Montchretien 1. He believed that the wealth of society is created from appeals, and of all types of labor he considered labor in trade (especially foreign) to be the most important. It was Montchretien who introduced the term “economic theory” in his work “Treatise of Political Economy”.

The next stage in the development of economic science is the emergence classical school bourgeois political economy. Its most prominent representatives are W. Petty, Adam Smith, D. Riccardo. Their scientific research is devoted to the categories of goods, money, profit, rent. Petty identified money as a specific product by showing it special role, laid the foundations of statistics, which at that time was called political arithmetic. Adam Smith is famous for his scientific work An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of a Nation (1776). In his work, he defines a number of economic categories: “rent”, “capital”, “profit”, “cost of goods”. A follower of A. Smith's reasoning is D. Ricardo. In his economic reasoning, one of the main ones is the theory of rent, the theory of international trade. He drew attention to the relationship between profit and wages. Riccardo approached the question of dividing the working day into surplus and necessary time.

School of Physiocrats defined economics as the science of national wealth and transferred its subject from the sphere of circulation to the sphere of production. Physiocrats argued that only agriculture increases national wealth. They hoped, with the help of reforms, to preserve the old order with dominance land ownership. One of the prominent representatives of this school is F. Quesnay 1 . He created the so-called economic table, in which he examined the movement of social product and money between three classes of society:

• 1) producers (farmers, peasants);
• 2) owners (landowners);
• 3) sterile class (those engaged in trade, financial activities).

The subject of the study of economic theory was associated with the study of state economies governed by absolute monarchs. This was the first attempt by economic science to give macro economic analysis.

Further development of economic theory followed two main directions.

• 1. Labor theory of value(Marxist political economics) is a branch of classical economics developed by Karl Marx. The subject of the study of economic theory is associated by Marxism with the knowledge of objective economic relations that develop between people in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material goods.
• 2. Marginalism- subjective psychological direction. The founders of the theory are:
• 1) Menger, Böhm-Bawerk, Wieser (Austrian school) - believed that the value of goods is determined by their limitations and rarity;
• 2) Marshall 1 - tried to combine the theory of production costs, supply and demand on the one hand and the theory of marginal utility and productivity on the other;
• 3) Clark (American school) - formulated the laws of diminishing productivity of factors of production and marginal productivity.

Representatives of these schools saw the main goal of economic theory as the study of social laws, the action of which is determined by individual psychological motives of behavior economic entity. Social laws appear as the arithmetic sum of the actions of the entire set of isolated members of society.

In addition, it is developing math school, which focuses on the use of mathematical methods in economic analysis. The main representatives of this school are Pareto and Jevons.

Economics began to acquire features close to modern ones thanks to the detailed research of the English economist J.M. Keynes. He defines economic theory no longer as the science of specific enterprises and markets, but as the science of the national economy as a whole. The main task He considered economic theory to be the search for efficient and rational use of limited resources.

The establishment of Keynesian views in economic theory is associated with the formation of the concepts of modern liberalism in the form of monetarism, the theory of rational expectation, the theory of public choice and institutionalism. In the spotlight monetarists- mechanism of influence on inflationary processes through changes money supply and circulation of money. The subject of economic theory is associated with the study of the laws of movement of the money supply, which are declared to be the fundamental basis of economic development. Rational Expectations Theory appeals to the abilities of subjects to adapt to the realities of a market economy. Public choice theory tries to overcome the weaknesses of state regulation of the economy and turns to the principle of individualism as the basis for making public decisions. Institutional economic theory examines primarily organizational and economic relations.

• Aristotle Stagirite (Aristoteles) (384/383, Stagira - 322/321 BC, Chalcis Euboean) - the greatest philosopher Ancient Greece. He studied with Plato, but did not become his student; educator of Alexander the Great, founder of the Peripatetic school of philosophy.
• Montchretien (Montchrestien) Antoine de (circa 1575, Falaise, Calvados, -1621, Thurail, Orne) - French economist; first coined the term "political economy".
• William Petty (05/26/1623, Ramsey, Hampshire, - 12/16/1687, London) - English economist, founder of bourgeois classical political economy.
• Adam Smith (1723, Kirkcaldy, Scotland, - 1790, Edinburgh) - Scottish economist and philosopher, a prominent representative of classical bourgeois political economy.
• Ricardo (eng. Ricardo) David (1772, London - 1823, Gatcom Park) - English economist, classic of political economy, follower and at the same time opponent of Adam Smith.
• Francois Quesnay (1694, Mer, near Paris, - 1774, Versailles) - French doctor and economist, court physician to Louis XV and founder of the Physiocratic school.
• Marx (German: Marx) Karl (1818, Trier, Prussia - 1883, London, UK) - German philosopher, sociologist, economist, political journalist, public figure, founder of scientific communism.
• Menger (German Menger) Karl (1840, Neu-Sandets, Galicia, Austrian Empire (now Nowy Sacz, Poland) - 1921, Vienna, Austria), Austrian economist, founder of the Austrian school.
• Bohm-Bawerk Eigen (1851, Brno, - 1914, Vienna) - Austrian statesman and economist, representative of the Austrian school, professor in Innsbruck and Vienna.
• Wieser Friedrich (German: Friedrich von Wieser); (1851, Vienna - 1926, Brunnwinkel) - economist, representative of the Austrian school in political economy. Since 1903, professor of political economy at the University of Vienna.
• Marshall Alfred (1842, London - 1924, Cambridge) - English economist, founder of the neoclassical movement in economics, represents the Cambridge School of Economics; He taught mathematics at Cambridge, political economy at University College Bristol, and from 1885 to 1908 he headed the department of political economy at his home university.
Keynes John Maynard (1883, Cambridge - 1946, Tilton estate, Sussex) - English economist, founder of the Keynesian school of economic theory. Editor of the Economic Journal (since 1912). He taught at Cambridge University from 1908.

The origin of the word "economy" originates from "oikonomia" ("oikos" - house, economy and "nomos" - rule, law) and was initially considered as the science of household. Aristotle, a philosopher and economist, explores the basis of the proportions of exchange, the origin and functions of money, the meaning of trade, etc.

The term “political economy” was first introduced into scientific circulation by the Frenchman Antoine de Montchretien. In 1615, he published the work “Treatise of Political Economy,” which gave its name to the whole science. Political economy was considered by Montchretien as a concentration of rules of economic activity.

The defining direction of economic thought in the 15th-17th centuries. became mercantilism. The essence of mercantilism in economic theory is the determination of laws in the sphere of circulation, i.e. in money circulation and trade. Characteristic exponents of the ideas of mercantilism were the Englishman Thomas Mann and the Frenchman Jean Baptiste Colbert.

England in the 17th century, with its ideas of freedom, reason and progress, produced many original thinkers, among them William Petty. His role in the evolution of economic thought is very great, which allows him to be considered one of the founders of classical political economy.

In France, XVII-XVIII centuries. the works of Pierre Lepezant de Boisguilberg were a very important experience in the formation of classical political economy. Boisguillebert, studying the reasons for the economic growth of society, noted that the most important condition for progress is normal prices that cover production costs, make it possible to make a profit, support the sales process and consumer demand. These are the prices, according to Boisguillebert, that develop under conditions of free competition.

It seems very difficult to determine the exact authorship of the idea, which has retained its relevance for centuries: “Let (people) do their own things, let (things) take their own course.”

Scotsman John Law, called the “father of inflation,” believed that the main criterion for the economic well-being of a state is a large number of money in the country. In his opinion, a large amount of money makes it possible to open new enterprises, best use entrepreneurial talent, labor and other factors that create economic prosperity. J. Law came up with the idea of ​​centralizing capital. If we remember that the rapid development joint stock companies began in the Old and New Worlds in the mid-19th century, it becomes clear that Law was ahead of his time by about 150 years.

The school of physiocrats represents French economic thought of the 18th century. The term "physiocrats" is derived from Greek words and literally means "power of nature." The most prominent representatives of this economic school are Francois Quesnay and Anne Turgot.

The physiocrats transferred the main focus of research (unlike the mercantilists) directly to production. The term “reproduction” itself was first used by Quesnay. This was the period when France, according to Voltaire, became bored with poetry, comedies, tragedies, novels, theological disputes and the country began to think about bread

The brilliant achievement of F. Quesnay was the creation of " Economic table". In this table, the author introduces the idea of ​​the process of reproduction and implementation as a continuous process, subject to the existence of certain economic proportions within the framework of the class stratification of society that he formulated, namely between the classes: productive, owners and the so-called sterile. Quesnay's ideas in the 20th century became one from the theoretical foundations of the formation of inter-sectoral input-output balances, which make it possible to analyze the production and distribution of the total social product.

A. Turgot, a French economist, continued the development of the theory of the physiocratic school. He formulated the physiocrats' understanding of the production of a pure product as the result of the special productivity of labor involved in agriculture.

England 18th century presented in the evolution under consideration by the brilliant theorist, founder of the classical school in economics, Adam Smith. A. Smith's main work, “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,” was published in 1776.

A. Smith's analysis of human nature, the interaction and interconnection of man and society was the basis for the formulation of the concept "homo economicus" - "economic man". A. Smith believed that the main incentive for human economic activity is personal interest. A person can realize his interest only through mutual exchange with other people of the results of personal economic activity, in other words, by working and participating in the process of division of labor. By pursuing personal interests, people satisfy each other's needs. The prosperity of society, therefore, is possible only on the path of individual well-being, and personal interest leading to the achievement of this well-being is such a powerful incentive that it can overcome hundreds of obstacles. An individual, striving to increase his personal capital, does not think about public interests, striving to satisfy his interest, and in this case, as in many others, he is guided by an invisible hand towards a goal that was not at all part of his intentions. By pursuing his own interests, a person often serves the interests of society more effectively than when he consciously strives to do so. By the “invisible hand” Smith understood the spontaneous action of the objective laws of economics. These laws act against, and often against, the will of a person. The order of free manifestation and effective satisfaction of personal economic interest Smith calls it the natural order. The basis of A. Smith's economic teaching was the principle of free competition. Only with the free movement of capital, goods, money and people can the resources of society be optimally used. The policy of free competition or natural freedom according to A. Smith was fundamentally justified in his theory and included the following elements:

• - free movement of labor;
• - free trade in land;
• - abolition of government regulation of the functioning of industry and domestic trade;
• - freedom of foreign trade.

Over the centuries, the economic policies of many countries have tested A. Smith's theory in practice, achieving great success in economic development. In real life, it is so simple and at the same time so difficult to create conditions under which his thought could be realized: in order to raise the state from the lowest level of barbarism to the highest level of prosperity, all that is needed is moderately light taxes and tolerance in management - everything else will take the natural course of things.

The most prominent representative of English classical political economy was David Ricardo, who published his works at the beginning of the 19th century. Distinctive feature his scientific system the recognition of the law of value (value) as the foundation on which the theory of political economy is built into a single whole.

D. Ricardo considered the sphere of production a source of value and income and showed dynamism in his concept of distribution economic life. Capitalism is an absolutely rational system of production, and the rate of profit is the stimulus of capitalist dynamics.

D. Ricardo analyzed quantitative indicators and connections under capitalism, which is a symbol of economic progress.

Utopian socialists. A certain stage in the evolution of economic theory was the writings of the 19th century Swiss economist. Jean Simond de Sismondi. He criticized the economic mechanism of capitalist society. In Sismondi’s interpretation, political economy is intended to be the science of improving the social mechanism for the sake of human happiness. Sismondi gave his explanation of the term “proletariat”, somewhat different compared to its content in the ancient Roman period, which designated the lower, poor, declassed strata of society.

The idea of ​​​​creating a future society was put forward by utopian socialists Henri Claude Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier (France) and Robert Owen (Great Britain). They also criticized the capitalist system and considered it transitory. Utopian socialists came forward with demands for the reorganization of production, distribution and consumption. The social system designed to replace the existing one was called industrialism by Saint-Simon, harmony by Fourier, and communism by Owen. The theorists of the society of the future proceeded from the need for the disappearance of private property, the elimination of the opposition between mental and physical labor, and the establishment, in their opinion, of a fair social system. However, they were against political struggle and revolution, believing that the society they projected could be created by spreading the ideas of social justice, so they were called utopians.

K. Marx and F. Engels in the 19th century. created a theoretical concept that received the general name Marxism. Within the framework of this concept, a doctrine was formulated about socio-economic formations, their constituent elements, strictly determined reasons for the change of formations, which, from their point of view, determine the content of the historical process. The Marxist concept continues the study of the labor theory of value (value), the beginning that was laid by W. Petty and D. Ricardo. A theory of production price was also developed, a position was formulated on the problems of the contradiction of goods, the dual nature of labor, the law of value (value) as the law of movement of commodity production. Marx gave his analysis of the evolution of the form of value (value) and his understanding of the difference between value and exchange value, introduced the concept of surplus value and showed the channels of its appropriation in a capitalist society and therefore was confident in the inevitable death of capitalism.

In the second half of the 19th century. the theory of marginal utility and marginal productivity or marginalism (from the English marginal - marginal) was formulated. The theory of marginalism is an economic analysis primarily from the point of view of the psychology of an individual subject involved in economic relations. Each subject is guided, first of all, by his own assessments of the marginal benefits and marginal losses from participation or non-participation in the economic process. Based on such estimates, this theory explains production costs, supply and demand, and price.

The classics of the theory of marginalism were the economists of the Austrian school Carl Menger, Friedrich von Wieser, Eugen von Bam-Bawerk.

The theory of marginalism was actively used in analyzing the mutual influence of price and demand for specific goods, in determining the interchangeability and complementarity of various factors of production. The new direction of economic theory, called neoclassical, was mainly formulated in the writings of the English economist Alfred Marshall. His main work, “The Principle of Political Economy,” was published in 1890 (modern translation is “Principles of Economic Science.” M., 1993).

In the economic theory of the neoclassical direction, the position was formulated that supply and demand are equivalent elements of the market pricing mechanism. A. Marshall interpreted the conditions for the balance of supply and demand in his own way, actively using the concept of market equilibrium.

Within the framework of the neoclassical direction, the principle of functional interdependence of economic processes was developed and quickly spread. The study of economics based on the principle of functional interdependence is called “economics”. Neoclassical theorists identified as one of the main points of their analysis the mechanism of price formation based on market factors in the process of their mutual influence.

One of the widely known theorists of the mathematical school of the 19th - early 20th centuries. is the Swiss economist Leon Walras. The followers of this school of economic theory considered market economy as a system potentially capable of achieving equilibrium based on supply and demand. The components of the market system, according to economists and mathematicians, were rational subjects who continuously strived for the optimum of their existence, i.e. economic success.

L. Walras developed a model of general economic equilibrium, which is based on the analysis of supply and demand and is a system of equations in which the decisive place is occupied by equations designed to determine the equilibrium of markets - productive services and consumer goods. In the market for productive services, sellers are the owners of factors of production, and buyers are producers of consumer goods. In the consumer goods market, owners and producers change roles. The theoretical achievements of L. Walras became one of the main models of “input - output” of V. Leontiev, an American economist, Russian by birth, Nobel Prize laureate (born in 1906).

In 1899, an active figure in German social democracy, Eduard Bernstein published the book “The Prerequisites of Socialism and the Tasks of Social Democracy,” where he outlined his view (the basis of which was reformism) on the Marxist concept. Bernstein noted that Marx's historical materialism is based on mechanical determinism, and as formulated by him, the objectivity of economic laws gives rise to fatalism.

E. Bernstein gave his interpretation of the concept of economic value (value) as a set (aggregate) of utility and production costs. He qualified the Marxist concept of surplus value as an abstract formula based on a hypothesis. The most prominent theorist of reformism denied the absolute and relative deterioration of the position of the proletariat and wrote about the increase in the living standards of workers and the entry of society into a period of prosperity at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. Analyzing the development of the joint-stock form of capital, E. Bernstein concluded about the decentralization and democratization of capital, leading to an increase in the number of owners, an increase in living standards and overcoming socio-economic cataclysms in society.

In 1936, the outstanding English economist John Maynard Keynes published his most famous work " General theory employment, interest and money", founding a new direction of economic theory - Keynesianism.

Previously, when analyzing economic processes, it was used macroeconomic approach. It was based on considering the activities of an individual company in conditions of free competition: reducing its costs, increasing profits, rational employment of the workforce. Efficient Operation firms are identified with the economic well-being of society, including the impossibility of mass unemployment in society. In contrast to the microeconomic approach, Keynes formulated a macroeconomic, in other words, an analysis of the interdependence of aggregate indicators - national income, investment, consumption, savings, etc.

Keynes stated that the basis for the successful functioning of the economy is the formation of effective demand and its components - consumer and investment demand, and factors influencing their change.

A new phenomenon in economic theory of the first third of the 20th century. became the concept of institutionalism in its various modifications. The name of the concept (from Latin - institutum - establishment, device, institution) illustrates the desire of the authors to provide a systematic analysis of processes and phenomena called institutions. Moreover, the content of the concept of institution as interpreted by the authors of the concept is very broad and can include the state, competition, monopolies, taxes, a stable way of thinking, and legal norms.

Depending on the understanding of the essence of the institution, modifications of institutionalism in economic theory are distinguished.

American Thorsten Veblen is the author of the theory of socio-psychological institutionalism. T. Veblen noted that in prehistoric times (primitive society) social institutions were just emerging, but social regulation was carried out at the level of instincts, the main of which are the instinct of mastery, parental feelings and idle curiosity. But also for other stages of human civilization (handicraft and machine production) these instincts are of fundamental importance.

The representative of American economic science, John Commons, the author of the theory of socio-legal institutionalism, believed that the basis of economic development is legal relations.

The American scientist Welsey Mitchell was a representative of the school of economic studies - another modification of institutionalism. Mitchell systematized a large amount of factual material and formulated methods for predicting quantitative changes in the economy.

In the last three decades, a new type of institutionalism has developed - neo-institutionalism, or new institutional economics. The subject of her research was such areas of economic analysis as: theory transaction costs, economic theory of property rights (Ronald Coase, USA), theory of public choice (James Buchanan, USA) and some other areas.

The next stage of development (evolution) of economic theory is represented by the works of theorists of economic liberalism of the 20th century. Austrian professor Ludwig von Mises and his student Austro-American professor Friedrich August von Hayek.

Misen's scientific work is marked by the breadth of interests and depth of economic analysis. This apostle of economic liberalism is penned by “The Theory of Money and Credit”, “Socialism”, “Liberalism”, “Critique of Interventionism”, “Omnipotent Government: The Origin of the Totalitarian State and Total War”, “Human Actions: A Treatise on Economics”, “Foundations of Economic science "essays on methodology" and other works.

Mises substantiated the conclusion that the only reasonable economic policy for modern industrial society There can only be liberalism, granting complete freedom to commodity producers acting on the market. The absolute foundations of civilization are, according to Mises, the division of labor, private property and free exchange.

Professor F. Hayek, like his teacher, was distinguished by his uncompromisingness in defending the concept of economic liberalism. He is the author of The Uses and Abuses of Reason: The Counter-Revolution of Science, Nations and Gold, Money and Nations, Economic Studies, Monetary Theory and Fluctuations industrial production" and other scientific works.

The works of F. Hayek are theoretical basis critics of totalitarianism in all its many manifestations, which many countries faced in the 20th century.

In 1956, the book “Prosperity for All” was published. Its author was the practicing theorist Ludwig Erhard, the “father” of German economic miracle, which served as a model for a number of other “miracles” of the 20th century. - South Korean, Taiwanese and Spanish.

Based on the theory of neoliberalism, Professor Erhard created his own concept of a social market economy and put it into practice, thereby marking a new brilliant stage in the development of economic theory and its real social results. Here are some thoughts from Professor Erhard about the qualitative components of economic success: “... a market economy cannot also abandon the free price function. Whoever wants to exclude the free price function kills competition and contributes to the stagnation of the economy.

This is the secret of the market economy and its superiority over any type of planned economy, that in market economy It is as if daily and hourly processes of adaptation are carried out, which lead to the correct relationship between supply and demand, national production and national income, and thereby to equilibrium.

Competition and the resulting increase in productivity and promotion of progress must be ensured by government measures and protected from all possible attacks."

American economist of Russian origin Vasily Leontiev is one of the greatest scientists of our time. His name is associated primarily with such a direction of economic theory as the creation of the “input-output” model, reflecting the ideas of equality between available resources and their use.

The range of scientific interests of Professor V. Leontyev is extremely wide. For example, the "Economic Essay" includes studies on various theoretical problems of classical economic theory, characteristic aspects of Marxist and Keynesian theory, issues of using economic science to determine the consequences of foreign economic assistance, input-output models.

The most important direction of modern economic theory is the concept of monetarism, the spiritual leader of which is American economist Milton Friedman. At the center of monetarists' research is the problem of stabilizing the economy through the monetary system.

In the development of economic theory, three trends can be distinguished, among which the main one ( mainstream) and him stages(Fig. 1.4).

Stage I. Economic theory arose in ancient society as saving - home economics science. During this period, the accumulation and generalization of experience in economic activity and preparatory work for the formation of economic science were carried out.

Stage II(last third of the 17th - end of the 19th century) is associated with the development of European civilization and the emergence of economic science, called political economy, interpreted as the science of running the state economy. This term was introduced into circulation in 1615 by the French statesman and writer A Montchretien(1576-1621) in the work “Treatise on Political Economy”.

The subject of political economy was the science of searching for an effective form of organizing the social economy, the science of wealth. One of the first schools of this stage - mercantilists. They focused on the study of the sphere of circulation and considered political economy as the science of the trade balance.

Rice. 1.4.

Later the theoretical doctrine appears physiocrats (“physiocracy” translated from Greek means the power of nature), the founder of which was Francois Quesnay (1694-1774). The physiocrats saw the source of wealth in production, which meant only agriculture.

At the same stage it develops classical economic school, associated with the names of W. Petty, A. Smith, D. Ricardo and other outstanding economists. In 1776, Adam Smith's book An Inquiry into the Causes and Nature of the Wealth of Nations was published.

Smith's recipe for achieving economic harmony was the motto: laissez faire, those. allow the economy to develop in accordance with its own laws, limit restrictive regulations and government intervention in economic life.

Stage III (1890-1930s) is characterized by marginalist revolution and development neoclassical school. The center of gravity in theoretical research is transferred from state level to the firm level. Qualitative economic analysis of the era of political economy is replaced by quantitative analysis economics. The descriptive research method fades into the background. Mathematical, graphic, and modeling apparatus are widely used. This direction was led by the English economist Alfred Marshall, who published his work in 1890 principles of economics, which opened a new era in the development of economic theory. At the end of the 19th century. economic theory was also called price theory, or theory of the firm.

Stage IV (early 1930s - early 1970s) is characterized by the fact that the subject of a unified economic theory was divided into two components: microeconomics And macroeconomics. The emergence of macroeconomics is associated with the work of the outstanding English economist John M. Keynes and, above all, with the publication of his famous work “The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money” (1936).

Stage V (early 1970s - present) is characterized by a transition to monetarism, the founder of which is considered to be an American economist, Nobel Prize laureate M. Friedman. Monetarism is a macroeconomic theory according to which the amount of money in circulation is the determining factor in economic development.

She went through these five stages in her development mainstream economics, or mainstream. The theory of the “mainstream” was developed and is being developed in highly developed countries of the world, i.e. it describes mainly the "economy of the center."

The “economy of the periphery” does not always and in every way correspond to the models described by theories mainstream. That is why alternative theories began to arise, first of all, theories of Marxism. Karl Marx argued that the only factor in the creation of wealth is labor, which means that the only creator of all wealth is the labor force and its specific bearer - the proletariat. Hence the main idea of ​​Marxism - “expropriation of expropriators”, i.e. liquidation of the class of entrepreneurs and capital owners. Marxist political economy - is the science of the system of objective economic relations between classes of people that develop in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of goods. Until 1991, Marxist political economy was the second most influential economic doctrine in the world.

Along with the mainstream and Marxism, there is also third current, which represents a set of institutional theories, whose origins are connected with the German historical school and the names of outstanding economists: T. Veblen,

J. Commons And W. Mitchell. Institutional economics is a science that studies economic behavior through the prism of stereotypes of social agents.

The presented classification of the evolution of various economic schools is quite simplified, but, nevertheless, it gives an idea of ​​the three main trends in economic theory and the formation of the subject of economic theory.

Section 1. Fundamentals of economic theory

Topic 1. The subject of economic theory, its philosophical and methodological foundations

1.1.1. Evolution of the subject of economic science

In the formation and development of economic science, several directions can be traced: political economy, economics, economic theory. Historically, political economy became the first scientific school in 1615. It arose as a scientific understanding and justification of the economics of capitalism. Representatives - W. Petty, A. Smith, D. Ricardo. A. Marshall, a representative of the neoclassical school, defined “economics” as a science that studies wealth, incentives for action and motives for resistance.

Economics– the science of theory and practice of market organization of production.

Economic theory– as an academic discipline, it is an integral course that includes political economy and economics.

The object of study is the features post-industrial economy(mixed socially oriented economy).

Economic theory– a social science that studies the behavior of individuals and individual groups of people in the process of production activities, distribution, exchange and consumption.

Economic theory is the foundation, the theoretical basis of all industrial sciences(agricultural economics, construction economics, etc.) and special scientific disciplines (finance, statistics, management, marketing, accounting). They study economic laws.

Economic law– these are repeated stable cause-and-effect relationships and relationships between economic phenomena. E.z. objective, exist independently of the consciousness and will of people, but are identified by people in the process of forming market relations.

Features of economic laws:

They are historical in nature;

Reflect the development of social life and economic activities of people.

Economy(from Greek - the science of housekeeping)

1st approach: Economy is a set of industries and types of production in which goods and services are created, a certain economy.

2nd approach: Economy is a set of economic relations that develop in systems of production, distribution, consumption and exchange, forming a certain economic system.

3rd approach: Economics is a science that studies the functional or sectoral aspects of economic relations.

Economic theory studies economic laws at different economic levels.

Microeconomics, macroeconomics, mesoeconomics, megaeconomics are the main parts of economic theory.

Microeconomics– studies the behavior of individual economic objects and their interaction in individual markets, as a result of which the price of produced goods, services and factors of production is formed. It studies the action of the simplest economic units that make independent decisions.

Macroeconomics– studies the patterns of functioning of the national economy as a whole. It analyzes the interaction and mutual influence of the most important segments of the national economy: labor markets, money, capital, goods and services, the most important and pressing problems of the national economy, unemployment, inflation, economic growth.

Mesoeconomics– studies the laws and behavior of certain subsystems of the national economy or industries (agriculture, military-industrial complex, economics of science, etc.)

Megaeconomy– studies the laws and behavior of the world economy as a whole.