Economic science. A historical sketch

Abstract

This article provides a historical review of the main currents of economic thought which, at different times and from different perspectives, have sought answers to problems related to the determination of the aggregate product or national wealth, and income distribution. In the physiocratic and classical scheme, including Marx, the concept of surplus was of vital importance and depended to a great extent on income distribution, in contrast to the Keynesian paradigm in which the movements of aggregate product depend on changes in demand, or the neoclassical vision in which the level of product and its dynamism rest on the decisions of economic agents between saving and consumption.