Classical Economists and Their Contributions . DAVID RICARDO (1772-1823) British political economist - the third of 17 children from a Sephardic Jewish family of Portuguese origin - Ricardo was a huge influence on 19th-century economics. In his Course de philosophies positive, he propounded his positivist philosophy. He is … Classical Economists and Their Contributions Without classical economists such as Adam Smith, Thomas Robert Malthus, and David Ricardo, modern economic theory would not be the same. Without classical economists such as Adam Smith, Thomas Robert Malthus, and David Ricardo, modern economic theory would not be the same. Auguste Comte (1798-1857): August Comte’s important contribution to sociology was the positivist legacy which he left behind him. Classical Economists and Their Contributions Without classical economists such as Adam Smith, Thomas Robert Malthus, and David Ricardo, modern economic theory would not be the same. While economists do not always fit into particular schools, particularly in modern times, classifying economists into schools of thought is common. Classical economists and their immediate predecessor reoriented economics away from an analysis of the ruler's personal interests to broader national interests. 2. It […] Classical economics is widely regarded as the first modern school of economic thought.The term "classical" refers to work done by a group of economists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. ADVERTISEMENTS: In this article an attempt has been made to present briefly the seminal ideas of few pioneers who have contributed sociology. As economists writing in the 18th and 19th centuries, Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and Thomas Malthus wrote about theories which would continue to influence economic theory in modern times. Without classical economists such as Adam Smith, Thomas Robert Malthus, and David Ricardo, modern economic theory would not be the same. Its major developers include Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus and John Stuart Mill.. Much of their work was developing theories about the way markets and market economies work. The labour theory of value, for example, was adopted by Karl Marx, who worked out all of its logical implications and combined it with the theory of surplus value, which was founded on the assumption that human labour alone creates all value and thus constitutes the sole source of profits. The teachings of the classical economists attracted much attention during the mid-19th century. Physiocrat Francois Quesnay and Adam Smith, for example, identified the wealth of a nation with the yearly national income, instead of … Although differences of opinion were numerous among the classical economists … In the history of economic thought, a school of economic thought is a group of economic thinkers who share or shared a common perspective on the way economies work. Adam Smith's main contributions to the field of economics were to lay the conceptual foundations for measuring a nation's wealth not by its gold or silver reserves but by its levels of production, and also to champion free-market capitalism as the most effective economic system. Pioneer # 1. Classical Economists and Their Contributions. Adam Smith (1723-1790) Adam Smith was a Scottish philosopher who became a political economist in the midst of the Scottish Enlightenment. Main classical economists •Adam Smith (1776-1790), Wealth of Nations 1776 •David Ricardo (1772-1823), Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, 1817 •John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), Principles of Political Economy, 1848 12 June 2014 Category: British Literature Author: Criticism. 1.