Smith After Sen

This paper makes the claim that it is possible to distinguish two phases in the revival of classical theory during the twentieth century. The first phase was severely minimalist, and looked back to David Ricardo for inspiration, reinterpreting his work in terms of present day concepts and formal methods. The second phase, on the other hand, seeks an enriched present day classicism, and is appropriately inspired by the work of Adam Smith. It is argued that already, before the beginning of the new millenium, deeply significant work has been done which, once examined from the present point of view, can be seen to herald the arrival of elements of second stage classical theory. Thus certain contributions of Amartya Sen can be seen to cast new light on the work of Adam Smith, and to link up with the ideas of other theorists like Luigi Pasinetti whose work has had features characteristic of second phase classical theory.