The evolution of the subject matter of economic theory is brief. The subject of economic theory and the evolution of its definition by different schools. Since economic relations represent an integral system in society, the subject of economic theory has another definition.

Section 1. Foundations of economic theory

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

1.1.1. Evolution of the subject of economics

Several directions can be traced in the formation and development of economic science: 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 economy 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 to action and motives of opposition.

Economics - the science of theory and practice of the 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 of the postindustrial economy (mixed socially - oriented economy).

Economic theory - social science, which studies the behavior of individuals and individual groups of people in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption.

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

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

Features of economic laws:

They are historical in nature;

They reflect the development of social life, economic activity of people.

Economy (from Greek - the science of housekeeping)

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

Approach 2:Economy - a set of economic relations that develop in the systems of production, distribution, consumption and exchange, forming a specific economic system.

3approach:Economics is a science that studies 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 the goods produced, services and factors of production is formed. She studies the operation 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, mutual influence of the most important segments of the national economy: labor markets, money, capital, goods and services, the most important and acute problems of the national economy, unemployment, inflation, economic growth.

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

Megaeconomics- studies the laws and behavior of the world economy as a whole.

INTRODUCTION

Classical political economy and the widespread economy in its western version are two independent links in the system of economic theory. The concept of "political economy" was first introduced by A. Montchretien in his teaching "A Treatise on Political Economy". The title of the work became so apt that it was the generally accepted definition of economics until the early twentieth century, since it accurately reflected the nature of the research in economics.

Nevertheless, most researchers began to abandon this designation, believing that economics should be wary of many political issues that the economist cannot ignore. In addition, the designation "political economy" seemed to the researchers rather narrow. As a consequence, the term was replaced by the concept of "economic science".

Economic theory is a universal science that serves as the methodological foundation of a whole complex of economic sciences that have a significant impact on the development of other sciences.

However, as D. Keynes noted, economic theory is not a set of ready-made solutions for the practice of doing business. Rather, it is a powerful tool for realizing the accumulated information in the right hands.

The theoretical and methodological foundations of economic interests attracted the attention of researchers at all stages of the formation and development of world civilization. This problem is especially manifested during the transformation of socio-economic processes, accompanied by significant changes in the environment of economic agents, modifications of their behavior models, the need to adapt to new economic conditions.

The relevance of the chosen topic is explained by the fact that economic science has developed in accordance with the emergence of certain economic problems, as well as ways to resolve them. The history of the development of economic thought occurs simultaneously with the history of the development of relations of labor and property, the development of relations of exchange and the emergence of the division of labor.

The object of research when writing a term paper is the subject of economic theory.

The subject of the research is the development of the subject of economic theory, its interpretation by different economic schools.

The purpose of writing a term paper is to analyze the evolution of the subject of economic theory.

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks:

· Consider the subject of economic theory in ancient times;

· Consider the subject of economic theory in the Middle Ages;

· To consider the interpretation of the subject of economic theory by various schools of economists in the XVII - XIX centuries;

· To analyze the views of the main schools of economics, such as the neoclassical school, the Keynesian direction and the institutional sociological school.

When writing, scientific literature on a given topic was used.

Chapter 1. Formation and development of the subject of economic theory

.1 The subject of economics in ancient times

Some of the most ancient eastern states are those that arose in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates (Mesopotamia) in the VII-IV millennium BC. The main condition for agriculture in this area was land irrigation, which required joint labor.

Sources of economic thought provide examples of the fact that the state, with the help of law, is trying to regulate economic life. The most famous is the code of laws of King Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC). The main theme of laws is the formation of conditions under which the strong would not oppress the weak. In accordance with it, in order to avoid the collapse of natural-economic relations and the threat to the country's sovereignty due to the weakening of state structures and the army from reduced taxes, strict legal norms were introduced into the treasury. It was forbidden to sell the land plots of tsarist soldiers for debts, usury was limited (20% in cash and 33% in kind), debt slavery, regardless of the amount of debt, was limited to three years. The rise of usury leads to the formation of business houses that function as the first banks (Egibi's house, Murashu's house). Depositors received 13% per year on their cash deposits, borrowers, as a rule, paid 20%. The violation entailed serious financial, administrative and criminal liability up to the death penalty.

The economic development of Ancient Egypt is indicated by two documents that have survived to our time about that time: "The Teaching of the Heracleopolitan King to His Son" (XXII century BC) and "The River of Ipures" (XVIII century BC).

The first document contains the rules of state administration and management of the economy.

The second document speaks of preventing the uncontrolled growth of lending operations and, as well as the formation of debt slavery in order to eliminate stratification in society, which could subsequently lead to a civil war. The civil war could have led to further impoverishment and decline of the country.

One of the most striking documents of Ancient India in the IV-III centuries BC about the economic thought "Arthashastra" ("artha" - "teaching", "shastra" - "income"). The author of the work is considered to be the adviser to the king Chandrapgta I Kautilya. He tried to explain that wealth is formed at the expense of labor, as well as the need to share profits with the state, since the state allows preferential land use, builds roads, protects buildings, develops industries and develops minerals, the need to fight speculators. In addition, he called for those who do not pay for the exploitation of land to be given into slavery, temporarily or permanently. In his opinion, the state had to regulate the economic mechanism; costs should be set in advance, which is 5% for local goods and 10% for imported ones.

Economic thought in ancient China is presented in the treatise "Lun-yu" ("Conversations and Judgments") by Confucius. In his opinion, a good state is like a respectable family, where the sovereign is the father who cares about everyone, and the inhabitants are children who obey the father in everything. But this is inherent only in a highly educated sovereign who is able to influence the distribution of wealth in the country. Confucius believed that when everyone has prosperity, due to the skillful management of the economy, the wealth of the state will increase, regardless of whether this is a private farm or a common peasant ownership.

Cato tried to describe the economy of Ancient Rome in a work called "Agriculture". In his work, he called for the maximum concentration of efforts on agriculture, since physical labor does not allow a person to be rude, angry, displeased and aggressive, and also benefits health. Over time, sharecroppers began to appear in ancient Rome, working for money or part of the harvest.

The economic problems of Ancient Rome are also reflected in the writings of Varro and Columella.

Columella created a treatise "On Agriculture". He caught the main contradiction of the slave society - suppression of the production activity of the producer, violation of the normal process of reproduction work force... Slaves became a dangerous property, so Columella advised moving to small-scale production.

Economic thought developed, but its greatest flourishing in Greece reached during the period of the beginning of the decline of the slave economy. The rudiments of economic thought are contained in Homer's poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey", which reflect the natural-economic concept. In the work of Hesiod "Works and Days", the power of wealth is described.

An idea of \u200b\u200bthe economic thought of Ancient Greece is given by the activities carried out by Pericles in Athens (444-429 BC). He launched civil construction, took care of the development of crafts and trade. The economic policy of Pericles was focused on the widespread use of slaves, the development of trade and the monetary economy.

Important moments in the development of economic thought are noted in the works of Xenophon, Plato and Aristotle.

It is believed that it was Xenophon who proposed the name "economy", which literally translates as "domostroy". In the treatise "Oikonomia" economics was presented in the mind of the ancient Greeks. This treatise reflected all aspects of everyday life: from the distribution of responsibilities at home to farming. Xenophon is recognized as the author of the Domostroy treatise.

According to Xenophon, slavery was necessary, agriculture was the main activity, rivalry between slaves should be kindled by rewarding financially and morally those who work better.

The first thinker who tried to prove what an ideal state looks like was Plato. He is known as the author of the works "State" and "Laws". He believed that the state should be governed by philosophers - the first class, relying on their wisdom. The second class is the warriors who guard the border and keep order. The third class is merchants, artisans and peasants, who must provide the first two classes with goods. Plato was the first to classify the forms of government according to how they obey the laws and how many people rule the state.

According to Plato, the state should be responsible for setting prices for goods. The most important thing Plato considered agriculture, and not craft and trade, he proposed a hereditary transfer of land.

The first scientist who expressed the opinion that economics is the science of wealth was Aristotle, known as the author of the works "Politics", "Nicomachean Ethics" and others.

Believing, like almost all scientists of antiquity, that agriculture is the main thing, he supported Plato and Xenophon in questions of the division of labor and people.

Aristotle contrasted chrematistics and economics as a purposeful activity to create the goods necessary for the natural needs of man. At the same time, Aristotle saw the role of the economy in meeting needs and in creating the means necessary to maintain the economy. In this case, money serves solely to ensure the convenience of exchange. Chrematistics considers a situation where profit and the accumulation of money have become the main goals of activities (for example, usury, commercial trade). Money acts as wealth and purpose, losing its purpose as a medium of exchange. Aristotle had a negative attitude towards chrematistics.

1.2 The subject of economic theory in the Middle Ages

An analysis of the economic teachings of the Middle Ages showed that the economic thought of that time was closely interconnected with the policy of the state, which supported the development of the existing feudal system.

In the process of its formation and development, feudalism went through three stages:

· Early feudalism (the emergence and formation of feudal relations during the collapse of the former slave system);

· Developed feudalism; (dominance of agriculture and low level of agricultural technology);

· Late feudalism (the emergence of manufacturing, the development of commodity-money relations, the beginning of the collapse of the feudal system).

During the Middle Ages, feudal land ownership was established as a reference point, the basis of which was the use of serfs. The difference from slaveholding relations was that the dependent peasant was a participant in property relations, since owned his own small plot of land and the means of production for its processing. At the same time, the peasant was obliged to alienate the surplus product to the feudal lord in the form of various types of rent. The economic interest was in obtaining income from their site.

A feature of the system is that the land plot was not always owned by the feudal lord, i.e. the process of feudalization meant the seizure of peasant lands by the ruling class and the formation of a feudal estate on the basis of the land ownership of the feudal lord and his incomplete ownership of the production worker - a dependent peasant.

The economic thought of the Middle Ages developed in relation to the development of society: the defenders of feudalism rejected usury and trade, and supported the natural-economic limitation of production, which was passed off as a social virtue.

At the same time, the church played a huge role for the economy of the Middle Ages, therefore, more and more often, economic thought took on a religious form. Christianity becomes even more widespread, so the economy of Aristotle is timely transformed into scholasticism. Labor was declared a sacred and godly deed, and economic thought is more a set of rules and norms of the life of society than a scientific understanding of economic practice.

An idea of \u200b\u200bthe economic thought of the early Middle Ages (VI-X centuries) is provided by a record of the judicial order of the Franks "Salicheskaya Pravda", which appeared at the beginning of the XI century. By listing the number of possible fines for offenses committed, the record makes it clear the economic component of the life of this society: on the one hand, the communal peasantry, and on the other, the feudal lords. Agriculture, according to the record, is the primary occupation of the population. At the same time, the development of cities, as well as industrial production, was not given special attention. A characteristic feature of the economic development of the francs was the absence of trade problems in the domestic market. The distribution of land by the kings of the Frankish state was carried out in the form of full ownership of land, but then the right to land became lifelong, which led to the inheritance of feudal estates.

After some time, the economic essence of the Middle Ages was reflected in the "Capitulary of the Villas" published by Charlemagne, in which feudal economic relations were consolidated, the basis for which was the subsistence economy.

The Middle Ages were characterized by the strengthening of the position of the Catholic Church. Economic doctrines appeared, which reflected the originality of economic thought. As the owners of large land holdings, the church justifies the existence of serfdom and defends its position with the help of church canons.

The most famous adherent of such views was the Catholic scholastic philosopher Thomas Aquinas, who systematized the beliefs of the canonists. In his writings, Aquinas affirmatively advocates the protection of private property, substantiating the need to create order in economic life and ensure a peaceful life for the population. At the same time, Thomas sets the boundaries between the right to use and the right to property. According to his teachings, the owner manages the property in the interests of creating the common good, and the one who shows hostility towards property goes against the entire system.

With a positive attitude towards feudal property, Aquinas negatively refers to the emergence of usury, considering it a threat to the emergence of economic domination of the feudal lords.

An important place in his teachings was the definition of "fair price", which, according to his definition, proceeded and the costs necessary for the manufacture of goods for raw materials, tools, etc. It follows that a fair price provided the seller with food based on his estate status, therefore the labor moment was estimated here rather conditionally. Condemnation of the emergence of commercial profits and interest received was declared not only as "displeasing to God," but also violations of the definition of a fair price. However, land rent was justified as income created by natural conditions.

Although the class structure was similar, the ideological processes were characterized by different characteristics that were inherent in the economic society in Western Europe, Russia and the East.

The economic thought of medieval Russia, as well as in other countries, develops together with society and is characterized by a close connection with the convictions of the Orthodox Church. When analyzing the economic society in Russia, it is necessary to note the officially confirmed information - chronicles, letters of princes, various church documents. The key document is called "Russian Truth" - the first code of norms and rules in the history of Russia. The content of the document characterizes the industrial relations that existed at that time in our state. According to him, feudalism in Russia had its own characteristics: in one case the economy of the feudal lords was called patrimonial (hereditary), and in the other - local (received as a reward from the Government). The estates differed in the type of ownership, but the production relations on the land plots were the same. In addition, individual articles of the document were devoted to the development of trade and credit relations, which indicates the spread of commercial capital and usury in the state. It is important to note that the loan was issued not only in cash, but also in kind.

Particular attention in medieval Russia was paid to the protection of land holdings. Since the legislation did not particularly interfere in the affairs of the feudal lord, they themselves determined the order of management. This practice prompted the appearance of a document on the organization of feudal production - "Domostroy", which considered the main tasks of the subsistence economy. Subsistence farming in Russia is directly related to the market, therefore this document contains a chapter on the topic of the benefits of shopping. For example, "Domostroy" advises not to take a loan, but to repay various obligations on time. "Domostroy" is exceptional in that the book was the first to offer a table of income and expenses to help landowners. The last chapter draws the attention of landowners to the benefits of wage labor in commercial or industrial affairs, and also makes recommendations to release serfs to freedom in order to create their personal economy.

However, at the last stage of the development of feudalism, "Domostroy" lost its relevance due to the emergence of new economic tasks. In this regard, the work of Ermolai-Erasmus, entitled "The Ruler and Survey of the Benevolent Tsar," was of great importance. The work is a special political treatise aimed at solving the emerging economic problems. However, the ways of developing the economic system proposed by Yermolai-Erasmus turned out to be progressive and did not find support in society at that time.

Thus, the economic system of medieval Russia was determined by the feudal system that dominated the state. Feudal lords largely determined their powers themselves

At the last stage of the development of feudalism, economic thought undergoes significant changes in connection with the development of manufacturing production and geographical discoveries, which accelerated the process of accumulating equity capital. This period characterized by the emergence of social utopias and, as a consequence, opponents of private property. However, the researchers of this time did not know the real ways of implementing their ideas, therefore they limited themselves to describing the utopian structure of the state.

Thus, the economic subject in the Middle Ages is characterized by the development of feudal relations, the basis of which was the use of dependent peasants and their tools in order to add their own capital. Economic thought of that time was constantly evolving, which led to the emergence of a large number of treatises describing the conduct of a feudal household. The characteristic features of this time are the significant participation of the church authorities in matters of the economic structure of the country, the rejection of usury, the encouragement of the development of agricultural land in order to increase their own capital.

1.3 Interpretations of the subject of economic theory by schools of economists inXVII - middleXIX in.

As noted above, the stage of late feudalism is characterized by the development of commodity-money relations, manufacturing industry and the development of elements of the capitalist mode of production. It was during this period that science appeared, which gave the name to the subject of economic theory - mercantilism.

Mercantilism is the economic policy of the state of the stage of late feudalism, thanks to which the accumulation of capital and the formation of the capitalist mode of production were developed. The politics of mercantilism is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 - Politics of mercantilism

As can be seen from Figure 1, the production of goods within the country, according to this policy, is subordinated to the export of finished goods, therefore, it is necessary to develop those manufactures whose production of goods finds the highest degree of sale abroad at high prices.

The subject of study for the mercantilists was the source of society's wealth in trade.

Mercantilistic politics combines two stages:

· Late mercantilism.

The early mercantilism was based on the theory of the monetary balance, according to which one should deal with the accumulation of money in the country, and not spending it.

Late mercantilism is also characterized by the fact that wealth is identified with money, but money is already capital, which leads to the growth of money. Therefore, the requirement to accumulate money is transformed into a requirement for the continuous movement of money, for a greater increase in equity capital. It follows from this that monetary funds were considered by the supporters of the doctrine not only as a source of wealth and a means of circulation, but also as capital, i.e. money as a way to increase your own capital.

The main thing in the teachings of the mercantilists is considered to be the desire to find out not only the objective movement of money as capital, but also to establish the importance of profit as the determining motive of the capitalist economy.

Prominent representatives of mercantilism were T. Maine, A. Montchretien, W. Stafford, Colbert.

Naturally, the teachings of mercantilism had both supporters and opponents. The main opposition to this trend was the supporters of physiocracy. The adherents of this doctrine transferred the study of the sphere of circulation to the sphere of production, thereby laying the foundations for the analysis of capitalist production. Like the mercantilists, the physiocrats considered the sources of the wealth of society to be the subject of the study of science.

The proponents of this theory first presented the surplus value of capital as a category of production, not circulation, and also gave an analysis of capital as a factor. The great merit of the physiocrats is the laid foundation of the doctrine of the composition and division of capital into fixed and circulating. The study of the capital structure allowed F. Quesnay to draw up an economic table, in which the researcher seeks to give a picture of economic relations between classes. (Figure 2)

Figure 2 - F. Quesnay's economic table

As can be seen from Figure 2, F. Quesnay divided society into classes not according to the class, which was characteristic of the previous stages, but according to the participation of the class in production and the expansion of surplus value. It follows from this that the researcher establishes the relationship between the structure of society and the structure of production.

Thus, the teachings of the mercantilists and physiocrats had a tremendous impact on the development of the capitalist system and the penetration of the bourgeois class into the sphere of production. This idea immediately found application in theory: trade is no longer a source of wealth; production is increasingly the source of wealth. Goods are the true wealth. From this moment, the school of classical political economy emerged, the brightest representatives of which are W. Petty, A. Smith and D. Ricardo.

W. Petty - the founder of the labor theory - believed that labor is interconnected with the value of the product. In his writings, he equates the labor of the farmer and the labor of the worker. This theory also has a number of disadvantages: the author does not distinguish value from price as a monetary expression and believes that only labor for the production of valuable metals determines value.

In 1777, A. Smith's book, "A Study on the Nature and Cause of the Wealth of Nations," was published, which is considered the main creation of his life. The essence of his work lies in substantiating the theory of labor value, in proving that labor is a source of wealth in all spheres of production, and not only agriculture, thanks to the costs of which value is formed, and then the price of goods. Many researchers of the present time consider the postulates of Smith's theory, forming the Smith paradigm, to be relevant to this day.

Smith's paradigm is based on the proposed concepts:

· The hypothesis of "economic man", designating the concept of man and his place in economic theory;

· The hypothesis of the “invisible hand” of the market, which implies minimal government intervention in the market environment; regulation based on free prices, depending on supply and demand for a product and the influence of competition;

· According to Smith, wealth acts as the main function and object of economic relations.

A. Smith's teachings were further developed in the works of D. Ricardo, who established comparative advantages for each product.

As for Russia, serfdom prevailed in our country for a long time, therefore, many categories of the capitalist system of foreign countries remained irrelevant. However, another thing was important - the search for ways and means to achieve the economic potential of Russia, the search for ways to abolish serfdom and the formation of the business sector. It was this side of Smith's teachings that attracted domestic economists - S.Yu. Witte, P.A. Stolypin, etc.

The achievements of classical political economy are:

· Change of the object of study from the sphere of circulation to the sphere of production;

· Disclosure of labor as a measure of the value of all goods;

· Proof that the economy should be regulated only by market participants and has objective laws;

· Identification of sources of income of the population structure.

From the teachings of A. Smith and D. Ricardo, a new trend in the development of economic thought was formed - Marxism, the founder of which is considered Karl Marx and his main work - "Capital". The teachings of K. Marx are presented in 4 volumes, the author considered the development of the capitalist method of production and the corresponding relations of production and exchange as the subject of his research. Capital mainly dealt with the theory of surplus value (unpaid labor of workers), which claims that its production is achieved through the use of the working class, and the appropriation of surplus value is the constant increase in the wealth of the capitalists.

K. Marx, like the founders of classical political economy, believed that the market is a powerful tool for capital accumulation. However, unlike the works of A. Smith and D. Ricardo, Marx believed that this process would lead to an exacerbation of the class struggle, and as a result, the death of capitalism, since the market mechanism cannot handle such power.

Karl Marx's teachings were widely disseminated in Russia in the works of such Russian scientists and politicians as V.A. Lenin, R.G. Plekhanov, M.A. Bakunin. Moreover, for more than half a century, Marxist teaching has been dominant in our country.

Assessing the influence of Marxist teachings on the development of the world economic system, the following conclusions can be drawn:

· "Capital" - the pinnacle of classical political economy;

· The study of capitalism was carried out not in fragments, but as a single system of laws and categories;

· Study of the reasons for the change in socio-economic formations made it possible to evaluate the course of human history not from the point of view of chaos, but from the point of view of logic.

Thus, scientists have been engaged in the formation and development of the subject of economic theory since ancient times, when economic science developed as a science of wealth. At the same time, the state and the church had a serious impact on the development of the existing economic system up to the appearance of the first schools of classical political economy, which contributed to the development of commodity-money relations, the manufacturing industry and the development of elements of the capitalist mode of production. A. Smith and K. Marx had a significant impact on the formation of the capitalist system of the economy, highlighting the market as the main instrument of capital accumulation for entrepreneurs. After the teachings of Karl Marx, political economy develops within the framework of the neoclassical, Keynesian, institutional and sociological trends.

economic neoclassical Keynesian institutional

Chapter 2. Interpretation of the subject of economic theory inXIX- XX in.

.1 Neoclassical direction

The neoclassical trend emerged in the mid-80s of the 19th century, at the time of the rapid development of economic theory. The formation of the neoclassical movement is associated with the name of the United States. Jevons, as well as those who supported the idea of \u200b\u200bthis direction - L. Walras and V. Pareto. A feature of the neoclassical direction was the introduction of mathematical methods into economic theory with the aim of transforming it into a more accurate science, as well as the behavior of an "economic" person, in an effort to get maximum income at minimum costs. This direction is a significant base for many modern trends in economic thought.

Like any other, the neoclassical direction has a number of followers, who, seeking to generalize their knowledge and ideas, as well as to give a new impetus to the development of the direction, were united in various schools. (Austrian, Cambridge, etc.)

Interesting is the Austrian school, which is a subjective psychological direction in political economy, the main merit of which is the development of the theory of marginal utility. Supporters of this school attempted to overcome the limitations of the theory of labor value, which did not provide an analysis of the consumer in the process of forming the value and price of goods. However, the theory of marginal utility was especially successfully developed in the works of famous marginalists - A. Marshall, F. Wieser, and others.

As noted in the first chapter, in the middle of the XIX century classical political economy dominated, represented by the Marxist school, however, the turn in the issue of considering the methods of pricing was so rapid that it was called the marginalist revolution. Proponents of the direction studied the so-called marginal values: marginal utility, marginal productivity, etc.

The marginalists saw the task of political economy in the search for ways to effectively allocate limited resources and the possibility of rational management. At this point, the concept of "economics" appears instead of the concept of "political economy" in order to emphasize the social neutrality of the teachings of the marginalist approach. The marginalist revolution was of great importance for the development of the entire economic theory - a change in the subject of study, i.e. if in classical political economy, the main goal was to study and determine the source of wealth, then the task of the neoclassical direction is to study the behavior of an individual firm with the goal of maximizing profits, as well as an individual consumer, who is guided only by his own personal considerations in his activities.

The neoclassical direction is characterized by the emergence of a large number of different theories:

· Liberalism;

· Monetarism;

· The theory of "general economic equilibrium";

· Theory of "welfare economics", etc.

Let's consider the key ones - the theories of liberalism and monetarism.

Liberalism is a theoretical doctrine that denies widespread government interference in the economic life of society. Unlike other economists, supporters of this theory evaluate the process of economic life not from a microeconomic position, but from the point of view of the development of the national economy as a whole. According to the theory, the state carries out only those functions that the market cannot perform on its own, as well as the functions of creating a structure within which markets and private enterprises can function effectively.

The theory of monetarism is an economic theory, according to which, all the money supply in circulation plays a key role in the stabilization and development of market relations. Unlike the theory of neoclassical liberalism, monetarists allow state intervention, but only in the case of control over the country's money supply.

Thus, having considered the neoclassical direction of development of economic theory, we can say that this direction is characterized by the following features:

· Research by supporters of the direction of "pure" economy, with a distraction from the nature of social relations in the sphere of which it was organized;

· Preference is given to the market mechanism for establishing a balance between production and consumption; granting freedom of private enterprise;

· Creation of a base for the emergence of new modern trends;

· The use of mathematical methods in order to transform economic theory into a more accurate science;

· The marginalist revolution had a huge impact on the development of economic relations at that time, however, the approach used is antisocial.

The relevance of the neoclassical direction, defending the freedom of private enterprise and limiting state interference in market mechanisms, is not lost to this day. However, during periods of economic crises, interest in this area disappears, since the theory is unable to answer the questions of the causes of the crisis and the ways out of it.

2.2 Keynesianism

The formation of this trend was based on the views of the English economist D. Keynes.

Keynesianism is a macroeconomic theory that recognizes and substantiates the importance of state regulation economy. Unlike neoclassical economic theory, the subject of analysis in Keynes's doctrine was the national economy as a whole.

According to Keynesian theory, such indicators of macroeconomics as national income, aggregate supply, aggregate demand, and the degree of employment are subject to government intervention. According to Keynes, the main factor that can bring the national economy out of the crisis is aggregate demand, which is determined by three components:

· Consumption of the population;

· Investments of the enterprise;

· Government spending.

Keynesian theory, in contrast to neoclassical theory, became especially interesting during such crises as the Great Depression, the crisis after the Second World War; at each stage, Keynesianism was enriched with new ideas and methods, as a result of which neo-Keynesianism and post-Keynesianism appeared, opposing the development of the main theories of the neoclassical school - the theory of marginal utility and the theory of marginal productivity.

Thus, having considered the theory of Keynesianism, the following conclusions can be drawn:

· The development of a macroeconomic method for studying the economy belongs to Keynes;

· Proved the need and named specific levers of state regulation of the economy both during the crisis and in the long term;

· The cyclical development of the economy was explained not by objective laws, but by human psychology: the desire to accumulate as much as possible than to spend; as a result, “effective demand” falls and, as a consequence, the growth rates of production and employment slow down.

Despite the struggle between the neoclassical and neo-Keynesian schools for the possibility of implementing their ideas, attempts were often made to combine certain provisions of neoclassical theory and the theory of Keynesianism. This direction has received the name "neoclassical synthesis" and is considered one of the main in modern economic science.

2.3 Institutional and sociological direction

The institutional-sociological trend emerged at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. thanks to the works of the American economist T. Veblen. This direction was considered by many economists as a reaction of radical economists to the emerging negative aspects of capitalism.

The concept of institutions has been considered by economists in both broad and narrow sense. In a broad sense, institutions mean corporations, trade unions, the state, etc. There are two main branches of institutionalism:

· Traditional;

Traditional institutionalism is a combination of various concepts: the technocratic concept of T. Veblen, the theory of post-industrial society, the theory of economic backwardness by G. Myrdal. T. Veblen, D. Commons and others are considered the founders of the direction. The methodology developed by these scientists took into account:

· Use of descriptive-statistical method;

· Use of the historical-genetic method;

The fundamental theory of traditional institutionalism is T. Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class. In the doctrine, entrepreneurs are divided into the owner of capital and the organizer of production. At the same time, the source of income for capital owners is not the real sector, but securitiescirculating in the financial sector. The owners of capital in this sense appear as an idle class, while the productive class will be workers and managers who do not have their own capital. Veblen saw the problem of the leisure class in the fact that the role of credit in any economic environment becomes too high. Resolving the problems between the idle and the productive classes will inevitably result in the transfer of power into the hands of technocrats, and equity will replace private property.

D. Commons in the doctrine of "Institutional Economics" emphasized the development of legal categories and legal institutions that influence the development of the world economy. At the heart of his work is the concept of "deal", which is understood by the author as a conflict of interests, and the role of a judge is assumed by the state, forcing by force to fulfill the obligations of both parties. The difference from Veblen's theory was the total, according to which the order will be replaced not by technocratic teaching, but by administrative one.

Denying socialism, but at the same time recognizing its achievements, on the one hand, and defending capitalism, but seeing its negative features, on the other, the supporters of this school came to the conclusion that the best qualities of both systems were combined, which found its application in the theory of convergence.

The concept of new institutionalism differs significantly from the traditional one, i.e. if the latter uses mainly the inductive method as methods, then neoinstitutionalists began to use a deductive approach - knowledge from general principles to explain specific phenomena in the life of society.

According to the supporters of this theory, the basis of relationships between people is a mutually beneficial exchange. This approach is called the contractual paradigm that creates the economy of agreements. Agreements form the institutional environment and define the norms and rules inherent in it, both for the private sector through the theory of property rights and the public sector through the theory of public choice.

The new institutionalism puts at the head the problem of human motivation, i.e. he is interested in the process of making a decision by an individual, its conditions and prerequisites. This statement has found its place in the theory of agents, which first consider the preconditions of contracts, and then Coase's theory of transaction costs.

Old and new institutionalism differ substantially in the following sentences:

· If the supporters of the old approach occupied an important place in the study of the problems of transformation of society into a postindustrial one on the basis of scientific and technological progress, then the new institutionalism is characterized by great attention to the person and his problems;

· Supporters of the old approach study the subject of economic theory by methods of other sciences: sociology, psychology, jurisprudence, etc., while supporters of the new approach study legal and other problems using the methods of modern macroeconomic theory;

· Neoinstitutionalists based the study on the behavior of the individual, who independently decides which collective he should be in, while traditional institutionalism did not affect the actions of specific individuals, but focused attention on the actions of economic collectives.

Thus, we examined the influence of three important economic directions on the formation and development of the subject of economic theory. It is important to note that if at the beginning the state was assigned the role of an observer of market relations in economic doctrines, then later schools gave the state more importance, believing that with its levers of power it could demand the fulfillment of the terms of the transaction from both parties. Schools of the neoclassical direction, Keynesianism, and the institutional sociological direction have had a huge impact on the formation of modern economic thought.

CONCLUSION

Thus, economic theory is a science about the laws and factors of economic growth, about the effective use of limited useful resources and their exchange between individuals in order to satisfy their needs, about the types of activities by means of forming and accumulating equity capital.

The subject of the study of economic theory is the relationship and patterns that develop in the process of economic growth in conditions of limited resources necessary for the development of social life.

As a phenomenon, economic science arose in ancient times and developed as a science of wealth. The first, an attempt to make a theoretical understanding of the economic structure of the life of society, tried such Greek scientists as Aristotle, Socrates.

Later, as a science, economic theory began to take shape during the development of capitalism, and mercantilism became the first economic doctrine.

The beginning of classical political economy was laid by W. Petty, who proved in his writings that the source of wealth is production, not trade in goods, i.e. real wealth is money, and the possession of goods. The prominent representatives of the school of classical political economy were A. Smith and D. Ricardo, whose teachings resulted in the emergence of a separate trend - Marxism. The subject of research in this direction was the capitalist mode of production, as well as the corresponding relations regarding the production and exchange of goods or services.

The Industrial Revolution, as well as the high rates of development of economic society, allowed the emergence of such areas as the neoclassical school of economics, Keynesianism and the institutional sociological direction, which determined the future development of economic thought. The relevance of these studies continues to this day.

Thus, the subject matter of economics has continued to evolve over the centuries. To date, there is no clear concept of the subject of economic theory, however, it is necessary to take into account the experience accumulated over the centuries in the effective management of economic processes.

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The subject of economic theory. Her three fundamental questions.

Economic analysis methods.

The history of the development of economic theory.

Economic science has passed a long historical path of its development. The emergence of elements of economic knowledge took place in the 9th-5th centuries. BC. in ancient China, India, Rome, Greece and was presented as episodic statements about various forms and methods of economic activity. To date, economic science is represented by various schools, directions, trends, united by the task of studying the economic life of society, but representing the subject of this study in different ways. A schematic representation of the genesis of the subject of economic science is presented in table 1.1.

Evolution of the subject of economic theory

Thus, the subject of economic theory is the system of production relations in unity with the wealth and limited resources, their effective use. This science studies human behavior - both as a producer and as a consumer.

The life of human society is connected with continuous consumption, but only what is produced can be consumed, thus humanity is always in a contradictory unity of consumption and production. Consumption is associated with the conscious desires of people, production is associated with the availability of production resources. Desires, needs of people grow rapidly, constantly and limitlessly. All this is due to the law of lofty needs. Resources are always limited, i.e. they are rare.

Rarity - this is a situation when there are not enough resources to satisfy the desire of each and every one. Since rarity is a constant situation, a science called economics devotes its efforts to the study of rarity and human activity in conditions of scarcity.

Economy Is the science that studies the choices people make using scarce resources to meet their needs.

Economics studies how a society, using the limited resources needed to produce various goods and services in order to meet the needs of citizens, decides three fundamental questions: 1. What to produce? 2. How to produce? 3. For whom to produce?

Question What to produce? is never removed from the agenda because it cannot be answered: “We will produce in the required quantities, all the goods that are needed” . Every time society comes across limited resources, it is forced to make a choice and give up something.

Let us illustrate a way to solve this question using production capability curve, which expresses the maximum potential production volume with full use of resources at a given technological level.

Solution of a problem How to produce? associated with the choice of a specific technology and the required set of resources. After all, the same result can be achieved by different means. This can be clearly seen on the graph. production functionor isoquant.

The answer to the question How to produce? is not reduced only to the technological choice of resources, but also involves the use of certain organizational and legal forms of production. Private or state-owned enterprises, large or small firms, etc. can be predominant. Different economic systems resolve this issue in different ways.

The solution to the third fundamental question - For whom to produce? - is connected with the problem of distribution of the created national product between households. This distribution can be carried out (1) equalizing, (2) on the basis of the principle “according to labor”, or (3) depending on the contribution of all resources (factors of production) to production, say, in proportion to the labor and capital invested in the business.

The problem of the distribution of the social product is one of the most acute problems of the economy; the dynamism of the economic system and its social stability depend on the method of its solution. You can measure the degree of inequality in the distribution of income between households using lorentz curve, named after the American economist who developed this technique (Figure 1.4).

Within the framework of this model, the entire population of a country is taken as 100% and it is studied what percentage of the total income of citizens of a given state falls on this or that population group.

Imagine that the entire population of a country is ranked in ascending order of income: from poorest to richest. We will plot the percentage groups of the population from 0% to 100% on the abscissa, and the percentage of income received by these groups on the ordinate. Line OE, being a bisector, shows state of absolute equality in society. Indeed, if everyone receives equal shares, then 20% of the population will receive 20% of the total income, 40% of the population - exactly 40% of the income, etc. All points will be strictly on the bisector. In life, such a state does not exist, since there is always a certain differentiation in income.

The deviation of the curve O, A, B, C, D, E from the bisector shows inequality in the distribution of income. The more inequality is observed in society, the further the curve deviates from the bisector. If, say, the poorest 20% of the population accounts for only 18% of all income, then the Lorenz curve will almost coincide with the bisector - inequality is small. But if their share in income is only 3%, then the curve will pass much below the bisector, thus showing that wealth inequality is huge.

Like other aspects of the problem of choice, the question For whom to produce? poses a dilemma to society. The closer the Lorenz curve is to the bisector, the more evenly income is distributed and the higher is social stability. But at the same time, the lower the motivation for work and other socially useful activity (entrepreneurial activity, invention, etc.). On the contrary, with a high income differentiation, motivation in society is very strong: moving up the social ladder dramatically increases material well-being. But there is also a downside to high differentiation. In such a society there are many offended, the injustice of distribution gives rise to social and class hostility.

The word economics comes from two words "oikos" - house, economy and "nomos" - law, conduct, however, in modern language the word economics has many meanings.

1) Economyis a set of social relations associated with production and with all human activities.

2) Economyis a production system or a specific region (district, city, country).

3) Economyis a scientific and academic discipline that studies any specific area of \u200b\u200bthe economic life of society.

Economic sciences economic theory

Selected economic sciences

industry-specific functional at the interface with other

(economics machine - (accounting, statistics, (economic statistics,

construction, light management, finance geography, history,

industry, etc.), etc.) economy. teachings, etc.)

2. Functions and structure of economic theory.

Economic theory fulfills a number of functions,which characterize its social purpose and role. The following functions of economic theory are distinguished:

1. Cognitive function. It follows from the main task of economic science - knowledge of the essence of economic phenomena, the objective laws of economic development. This function is to comprehensively study the forms of economic phenomena and their inner essence, which makes it possible to discover the laws by which the national economy develops. Such a study begins with a consideration of facts, mass economic data, and the behavior of business entities. In economics, all this is referred to as "descriptive science", which collects and accumulates relevant factual materials.

2. Methodological function. J. Keynes believed that economic theory is not a set of ready-made recommendations that are used directly in economic practice. It is rather a method, an intellectual tool, a technique of thinking, helping the one who possesses it to come to the right conclusions. Economic theory acts as the theoretical foundation of a complex of economic sciences - sectoral (economics of industry, transport, construction, etc.) and functional (finance and credit, accounting, audit, money circulation, etc.).

Z. Practical function . Its content is the provision of economic policy. The results of the development of economic theory are directly used in practice. Economic theory is not an exact science, but it can use statistical methods of analysis to investigate many specific problems. Of course, in order for a theory to be of practical use, it does not have to be validated on a case-by-case basis. However general provisions this science is successfully used in the substantiation of the economic policy of the state and the development of national models of the economy.

4. The prognostic (gr. Prognosis - foresight, prediction) function of the theory is to form the scientific foundations of foreseeing the prospects of scientific, technical and socio-economic development for the foreseeable future. This function is in many cases associated with the development of appropriate planning criteria and Indicators. She acquires essential in connection with the preparation of plans and forecasts for the development of enterprises and the national economy.

In recent decades, the level of world economic science has significantly increased, which is associated with the widespread use of mathematical methods and statistics to study the increasingly complex economic processes and the development of practical problems. Since 1969, the Swedish Academy of Sciences has annually awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for the best scientific and practical developments. This award was received, in particular:

in 1970, Paul Samuelson (USA) - for his contribution to raising the level of scientific analysis in the economic sciences;

in 1973, Vasily Leontiev (USA) - for the development of the input-output method;

in 1974 Friedrich von Hayek (Great Britain) and Gunnar Myrdal (Sweden) - for their work in the field of the theory of money, market fluctuations and analysis of the interdependence of economic, social and structural phenomena;

in 1975 Tjalling (USA) and Leonid Kantorovich (Soviet Union) - for the development of the theory of optimal use of resources;

in 1988, Maurice Allais (France) - for the development of the theory of the relationship between economic growth, investment, interest rates.

In total, there are over thirty Nobel laureates who have contributed to the practical development of economic problems.

The economy is a complex multilevel system. Therefore, economic theory studies the problems of efficient use of limited resources at the micro and macro levels, which are closely interrelated and interdependent.

Microeconomics- a section of economic theory that studies the laws of behavior of individual economic entities and their interaction in individual markets, as a result of which prices for goods and services produced and factors of production are formed. It studies the activities of the simplest economic units that make independent decisions - producers and consumers, owners of primary factors of production, investors, etc. She studies the mechanism for coordinating the goals of various economic actors, as well as the laws on the basis of which consumers make their choice or business decisions are made.

The constituent parts of microeconomics are:

Þ theory and market demand and consumer behavior;

Þ theory of production and costs (costs), theory of the firm;

Þ theory of monopoly and types of market structures;

Þ problems of pricing in the markets for factors of production and the related distribution of national income.

Macroeconomics is a section of economic theory related to the activities of all economic agents - households and firms, as well as specific markets and industries. It studies the behavior of the economy as a whole from the point of view of ensuring conditions for sustainable economic growth, full employment of resources, minimizing the level of inflation and equilibrium of the balance of payments.

Unlike microeconomics macroeconomicsuses in its analysis aggregated values,characterizing the movement of the economy as a whole: GDP (and not the output of an individual firm), the average price level (and not prices for specific goods), the market interest rate (and not the interest rate of an individual bank), the rate of inflation, employment, unemployment, etc. ... The main macroeconomic indicators are real GDP growth rate, inflation rate and unemployment rate.

Micro- and macroeconomics are not different disciplines - they are two approaches to the consideration of economic phenomena and processes: at the level of economic entities and at the level of the national economy as a whole. The same analysis methods, concepts and key ideas are used in both areas.

The origin and main stages of development of economic theory as a science

Human needs are very diverse. The main source of their satisfaction is the economy, economic activity people, since it is they who create the necessary conditions for this. The economy allows you to transform natural resources into goods suitable for consumption by society.

The concept of economics (from gr. Oikonomia, literally - art history of the household) is now used in four meanings:

- the national economy of a particular country, group of countries or the whole world;

The sphere of human economic activity in which the goods of life are created, distributed and consumed;

The set of economic relations between people in the field of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of products that form a certain economic system.

The economy as a complex, diversely structured system is the object of study of a special science - economic science.

Economic science is a sphere of human mental activity, the function of which is cognition and systematization of objective knowledge about the laws and principles of development of real economic reality.

The first attempts to study certain aspects of economic processes are known from the works of ancient Greek and Roman thinkers (Xenophon, Aristotle, Plato, Cato, Varro, Seneca, Columella), as well as the thinkers of Ancient Egypt, China and India. They investigated the problems of housekeeping, as well as agriculture, trade, wealth, taxes, money, etc.

Economic science as a system of knowledge about the essence of economic processes and phenomena began to emerge only in the XVI-XVII centuries, when the market economy began to acquire general character... The main stages in the development of economic science are shown in Fig. 1.1.

Mercantilism. Supporters of this school considered the sphere of circulation, trade, to be the main source of wealth, and identified wealth with the accumulation of metallic money (gold and silver). The views of the representatives of this school expressed the interests of the commercial bourgeoisie during the period of the initial accumulation of capital and the development of foreign trade. Representatives: A. Montchretien, T. Mann, D. Hume, W. Stafford.

Physiocrats. Unlike the mercantilists, the physiocrats for the first time transferred research from the sphere of circulation directly to the sphere of production. But the source of wealth was considered only the primary sector - labor in agricultural production. In their opinion, industry, transport and trade are barren spheres, and the work of people in them only covers the costs of their existence and is unprofitable for society. Representatives: F. Quesnay, A. Turgot, V. Mirabeau and others.

Classical political economy. It arose with the development of capitalism. Its founders W. Petty, A. Smith, D. Ricardo were the first to give a systematic presentation of economic science as a single integral scientific discipline. They focus on the analysis of economic phenomena and patterns of development of all spheres of capitalist production, strive to reveal the economic nature of wealth, capital, income, credit, circulation, and the mechanism of competition. It was they who laid the foundation for the theory of labor value, and they viewed the market as a self-regulating system.

Marxism, or political economy of labor. The founders of this trend, K. Marx and F. Engels, study the system of laws of capitalist society from the standpoint of the interests of the working class. Continuing the study of the theory of labor value, they analyzed the development of forms of value, proposed their concept of surplus value, money, labor productivity, reproduction, economic crises, and land rent. However, some of the provisions of Marxism - about the denial of private property and the market, the intensification of exploitation and the growth of impoverishment of workers under capitalism, about the only factor in the formation of surplus value, the advantages of social property, the inevitability of the collapse of capitalism - did not have proper scientific substantiation and did not find practical confirmation. Therefore, they are now being revised and subjected to fair scientific criticism.

Marginalism (from the English marginal - limiting) - a theory that explains economic processes and phenomena on the basis of the universal concept of using limiting, extreme ("max" or "min") values \u200b\u200bthat characterize not the inner essence of the phenomena themselves, but their change due to modification other phenomena. The research of marginalists is based on such categories as "marginal utility", "marginal productivity", "marginal cost", etc. Marginalism uses quantitative analysis, economic and mathematical methods and models, which are based on subjective psychological assessments of economic processes and phenomena. Representatives of marginalism - K. Menger, F. Wieser, W. Jevons, L. Walras.

In modern Western economic science, there are different directions, trends, schools, the typology of which differs both in the methods of analysis and in understanding the subject and purpose of the study. Approaches to solving economic problems are conceptually different. However, these differences are largely arbitrary, therefore the entire totality of modern non-Marxist movements and schools can be grouped into four main directions: neoclassicism, Keynesianism, institutionalism, neoclassical synthesis (Fig. 1.2).

Neoclassicism explores and develops the ideas of classical political economy, taking into account modern conditions. Denies the need for state intervention in the economy, considers the market as a self-regulating economic system capable of independently establishing the necessary balance between aggregate demand and aggregate supply. The founders of the theory are A. Marshall and A. Ligu. Followers - L. Mises, F. Hayek, M. Friedman, A. Laffer, J. Gilder, F. Keigan and others.

The neoclassical trend encompasses many different concepts and schools: "monetarism", "public choice theory", "rational expectations theory", etc. The concept of monetarism, the recognized theorist of which is the American economist Milton Friedman, is especially popular. Adherents of monetarism - F. Knight, J. Stigler, F. Keigan, A. Goldman.

Monetarism - a theory that proposes a refusal from active government intervention in the economy and ascribes to the money supply in circulation the role of a determining factor in the formation of economic equilibrium, the development of production and changes in the volume of gross domestic product (GDP). According to the rule of monetarism, the growth of the money supply (monetary base) must be coordinated with the growth rate of GDP, price dynamics and the speed of money circulation according to this scheme (Fig. 1.3).

Figure: 1.3. Monetary levers of GDP regulation

Keynesianism - one of the leading modern theories, in contrast to neoclassicism, justifies the need for active government intervention in the regulation of the market economy by stimulating aggregate demand and investment through the implementation of specific credit and budgetary policies. The founder of the theory is the outstanding English economist J.M. Keynes. Keynesianism emerged in the 30s of the XX century. as a response to the need to overcome the Great Depression (1929-1933), which brought the economic system of capitalism to the brink of complete disaster. J.M.'s ideas Keynes, outlined in his main work "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money" (1936), were widely used by the leading countries of the world in the practice of regulating the market economy and made it possible to overcome the crisis phenomena relatively quickly, to achieve stable rates of economic growth and dynamic equilibrium. Keynesian concept of stimulating demand is shown in Fig. 1.4.

Adherents and followers of J.M. Keynes (J. Robinson, P. Sraffa, A. Hansen, N. Kaldor, R. Lucas and others) advocate the active participation of the state in the structural restructuring of the economy, consider it necessary to introduce anti-crisis and countercyclical regulation, redistribution of income, increase in social payments and dr.

Institutionalism, or the institutional-sociological direction, representatives of which are T. Veblen, J. Commons, W. Mitchell, J. Gelbraith, J. Tinbergen, G. Myrdal, etc., considers the economy as a system in which relations between business entities arise under the influence of both economic and legal, political, sociological and socio-psychological factors. The objects of study for them are "institutions", by which they mean the state, corporations, trade unions, as well as legal, moral and ethical norms, customs, mentality, human instincts, etc.

Neoclassical synthesis - a generalizing concept, whose representatives (D, Hicks, J. Buchanan, P. Samuelson, L. Klein, etc.) substantiate the principle of uniting market and state regulation of economic processes, assert the need to move towards a mixed economy. Adhere to the principle of rational synthesis of neoclassical and Keyesian directions of economic theory.

The subject of economic theory and the evolution of its definition by different schools.

The subject of economic theory is extremely complex and multifaceted, just as the economic life of a person is complex, multifaceted and dynamic. This explains the impossibility of a short and all-embracing definition of an object that would be suitable for all stages of the development of human society. Economic theory, studying real economic processes, itself is in constant search and development, the subject of its research is changing and refined. The evolution of ideas about the subject of economic theory is shown in table. 1.1. This is a far from complete list of definitions of the subject of economic theory.

Table. 1.1. The evolution of the definition of the subject of economic theory

As you can see, representatives of traditional schools associated the formation of the subject of economic theory with the growth of wealth, economic laws, production relations between people, and modern Western economists - with the problems of "scarcity", "limited resources and the efficiency of their use", "alternative choice", etc. n. Such a variety of definitions of the subject of economic theory cannot be considered a disadvantage or weakness of this science. It is natural because it reflects the evolution of the study of such a complex and contradictory social object as an economic system. At the same time, none of the above definitions can claim to be a complete, comprehensive disclosure of the essence of the object under study. Each theory expresses a certain side, facet, cut of the system under study, and thus makes a certain contribution to economic science. In this regard, P. Samuelson, the author of the well-known textbook "Economics" in the West, notes that the definition of theoretical economics as a science reveals its subject from different sides, since various aspects of human life are taken into account, including economic, and this does not provide an opportunity formulate a short and at the same time all-encompassing definition of it. Therefore, all attempts to absolutize any one concept, one approach to defining the subject of economic theory are unacceptable and unproductive, since they contradict the essence of economic life and science itself - it loses its scientific character.

Economic theory is a creative science, which is constantly enriched with new knowledge, the subject of its research is expanding and refined. In modern conditions of humanization, intellectualization, socialization of public life and globalization of economic processes, its subject sphere is evolving in the direction of expanding and complicating problems, attracting additional layers of socio-economic relations to scientific research, taking into account the multidimensionality of their interaction and defining a person as the center of the economic system.

Modern development economic theory is characterized by:

Multi-vector scientific creativity, structure and methods of cognition, which allows a plurality and synthesis of theoretical concepts and scientific ideas;

Rejection of generally binding truth criteria and theories that claim universality;

Mutual influence and tolerant competition of ideas and cognitive approaches, expanding the possibility of seeing complementary truths in contradictory reasoning;

Expansion of traditional problems and conceptual apparatus of economic science on the basis of complex and dynamic processes, born of the global nature of problems and tasks that arise in the course of socio-economic transformations;

The introduction into economic research of a new promising methodology of analysis based on a synergetic approach, which opens up wide possibilities for multidimensional coverage of the essence of economic processes and phenomena.

The paradigm of modern domestic economic theory should also have a national-historical component, which provides for taking into account the transformational specifics of the national economy, its institutional and reproductive characteristics, as well as the national mentality of the people, its traditions, psychology, historical, cultural, demographic and other characteristics of the country. Taking into account the national-economic component is an important condition for a deep understanding of the modern socio-economic processes that are taking place in the country, and scientific forecasting of their development trends in the future.

So, the development of modern economic theory takes place on the basis of combining the process of pluralization with an increasing tendency to integrate its various directions and schools, with the prevalence of synthesized and integrated approaches to the study of socio-economic processes. Not in opposition, not in difference, but in mutual enrichment and scientific synthesis of similar features of different concepts, is the democracy and synergy of the effect of the common work of scientists-economists, which makes it possible to deeper reveal the subject of economic theory in all its versatility.

Summarizing what has been said, we can define the subject of economic theory in the political economic aspect.

Economic theory is a socio-economic science that studies the laws of the development of economic systems, the activities of economic entities aimed at efficient management in conditions of limited resources, in order to satisfy their unlimited needs.

Along with the evolution of the definition of the subject, the name of economic science also evolved (Fig. 1.5).

Term saving (from the Greek oikonomia) was introduced by the ancient Greek thinkers Xenophon and Aristotle. Translated from Greek, it means "art, housekeeping rules", "housekeeping" ("oikos" - house, household; "nomos" - rule, law).

The term "political economy" was first introduced into scientific circulation by the French mercantilist Antoine Montchretien in his work "Treatise on Political Economy", written in 1615. "Politikos" is translated from Greek as state, public. This term in combination with the term economy means the science of the laws of economic management in the state, society.

In economics, the term "political economy" dominated until the end of the 19th century. - the time of the release (1890) of the work of the famous English economist A. Marshall "Principles of Economics". Economics is a neoclassical direction in economic science that aims to synthesize classical political economy and marginalism.

In modern conditions, in most countries of the world (especially Anglo-American), political economy functions under the name "economy", in a number of others - as "economic theory" or as "political economy". Each of them has its own aspect of research and presentation. Nevertheless, they, in fact, are the names of the same economic science, which is constantly developing and exploring economic phenomena and processes at different stages of the development of human society.

The evolution of the terms "economy", "political economy", "economics", "economic theory" is objectively conditioned by the development of economic science itself and the object of its research - the economic system.

Economic theory in a broad sense includes the following sections: foundations of economic theory (political economy), microeconomics, mesoeconomics, macroeconomics, megaeconomics (Fig. 1.6).

Figure: 1.6. The structure of general economic theory

Fundamentals of Economic Theory (Political Economy) - This is a fundamental, methodological part of economic science, which reveals the essence of economic categories, laws and patterns of functioning and development of economic systems in different historical eras.

Microeconomics studies the behavior of primary-level economic agents: households, enterprises, firms. It analyzes: the prices of individual goods, the costs of their production, profit, wages, demand for goods and their supply, etc.

Macroeconomics studies the laws of functioning of the economy as a whole, that is, at the level of the national economy. The object of her research is the gross domestic product, gross national income, national wealth, the standard of living of the population, problems of unemployment, inflation and its causes, money circulation, interest, tax policy, the credit and banking system, etc.

Mesoeconomics studies individual branches and subsystems of the national economy (agro-industrial complex, military-industrial complex, commercial and industrial complex, territorial-economic complexes, free economic zones, etc.).

Megaeconomics studies the regularities of the functioning and development of the world economy as a whole, that is, at the global-planetary level.

Note that general economic theory is not a mechanical sum of its components. All of its parts are in an inseparable unity and organic relationship, providing a holistic perception of the economy as a self-sufficient and dynamic system that functions at the national and global levels.

Economic theory, depending on the functional goal, is divided into positive and normative economic theory.

Positive economics aims at a comprehensive knowledge of economic processes and phenomena, reveals their interconnections and interdependencies, which are due to real reality. That is, it examines the actual state of the economy, economic reality and answers the question: what is it?

Normative economics studies objective economic processes, evaluates them and develops recommendations for improving the economic system, its transition to a higher level of development. It answers the question: how should it be and what needs to be done for this?

So, economic science, on the one hand, is called upon to study real facts, to find out the cause-and-effect relationships in the economic system, and on the other hand, to give recommendations regarding its improvement in order to more efficiently use the available resources and achieve, on this basis, the highest level of satisfaction of social needs. Thus, economic theory fulfills not only cognitive, but also practical function.

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

Aristotle can be considered the first economist. His merit lies in the fact that for the first time he identified a number of economic categories and showed the relationship between them. So, Aristotle singles out two sides in the product: consumer and price. Interpreting the concept cost, he considered two of its directions:

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

than gave rise to duality in economic theory, which exists 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 economics 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 appeal, and of all types of labor, he considered labor in trade (especially foreign) to be the main one. It was Montchretien who coined the term "economic theory" in his Treatise on 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 focuses on the categories of goods, money, profit, rent. Petty singled out money as a specific commodity, showing its special role, laid the foundations of statistics, which at that time was called political arithmetic. Adam Smith is famous for his scientific work "Investigation of the nature and causes of the wealth of the people" (1776). In his work, he defines a number of economic categories: “rent”, “capital”, “profit”, “value of goods”. The 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 the dominance of landed property. One of the prominent representatives of this school is F. Quesnay 1. He created the so-called economic table, in which he considered the movement of social product and money between three classes of society:

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

The subject of the study of economic theory was associated with the study of the state economy controlled by absolute monarchs. This was the first attempt by economics to provide a macroeconomic analysis.

The further development of economic theory proceeded in two main directions.

• 1. Labor theory of value (Marxist political economy) - the direction of classical economic science, 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, Boehm-Bawerk, Wieser (Austrian school) - believed that the value of goods is determined by their limitedness 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.

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

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

Economic science began to acquire features close to modern thanks to thorough research by the English economist J.M. Keynes. Economic theory is no longer defined by him as the science of specific enterprises and markets, but as the science of the national economy as a whole. He considered the main task of economic theory to be the search for the 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 - a mechanism for influencing inflationary processes by changing the money supply and money circulation. The subject of economic theory is associated with the study of the laws of movement of the money supply, which are declared the fundamental principle of economic development. Rational expectations theory appeals to the ability of subjects to adapt to the realities of the market economy. Public choice theory tries to overcome the weaknesses in the regulation of the economy by the state and turns to the principle of individualism as the basis for making public decisions. Institutional economics considers primarily organizational and economic relations.

• Aristotle Stagirite (Aristoteles) (384/383, Stagir - 322/321 BC, Chalcis of Euboea) - the greatest philosopher of Ancient Greece. He studied under Plato, but did not become his student; educator of Alexander the Great, founder of the peripatetic school of philosophy.
• Montchretien (Montchretien, Montchrestien) Antoine de (about 1575, Falaise, Calvados, -1621, Thurail, Orne) - French economist; first introduced the term "political economy".
• Petty William (05/26/1623, Ramsey, Hampshire, - 12/16/1687, London) - English economist, founder of bourgeois classical political economy.
• Smith (Smith) Adam (1723, Kirkcaldy, Scotland, - 1790, Edinburgh) - Scottish economist and philosopher, a prominent representative of classical bourgeois political economy.
• Ricardo David (1772, London - 1823, Gatcomb Park) - English economist, classic of political economy, follower and at the same time opponent of Adam Smith.
• Quesnay Francois (1694, Mer, near Paris, - 1774, Versailles) - French physician and economist, court physician to Louis XV and the founder of the school of physiocrats.
• Marx (German Marx) Karl (1818, Trier, Prussia - 1883, London, Great Britain) - German philosopher, sociologist, economist, political journalist, public figure, founder of scientific communism.
• Menger (German Menger) Karl (1840, Nei-Sandec, Galicia, Austrian Empire (now Novy 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 (eng. Marshall) Alfred (1842, London - 1924, Cambridge) - English economist, the founder of the neoclassical direction in economic science, represents the Cambridge School of Economics; taught mathematics at Cambridge, political economy at the University College of Bristol, from 1885 to 1908 headed the department of political economy at his home university.
Keynes John Maynard (1883, Cambridge - 1946, Tilton estate, Sussex) - English economist, founder of Keynesian direction in economic theory. Editor of the Economic Journal (since 1912). Taught at the University of Cambridge since 1908.