Edward Elgar Publishing CLASSICAL ECONOMICS, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND GROWTH (Economists of the Twentieth Century series)

Walter Eltis's work has played a major role in the rediscovery of the policy relevance of classical economics. His articles on Smith, Quesnay, Ricardo and Malthus, where he derives their underlying economic argument from a detailed examination of their principal publications, led to the Bacon and Eltis theory which challenged Keynesian orthodoxy. It showed how growing public expenditure and increasing public debt reduce economic growth and destabilize modern economies. This volume includes a carefully chosen selection of his key articles and papers, as well as an extensive introductory essay which provides an account of the evolution of his ideas and their impact on economic policy. Review 'Economists who believe with Sir John Hicks that we cannot escape from our past, that the past crowds in on us, will welcome and applaud this brilliant collection of essays. And I can think of no better means of demonstrating to students the immediate relevance to growth and development policy of the great debates of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries than placing this collection in their hands.' -- Samuel Hollander, University of Toronto, Canada '. . . the book provides an entertaining collection which does what is rarely done these days. It puts particular policy arguments in both a theoretical and historical context.' -- Ken Mayhew, Pembroke College, Oxford, UK About the Author The late Walter Eltis, formerly Emeritus Fellow, Exeter College, Oxford University, UK