The classical theory of economic growth, by Donald J. Harris

By Donald J. Harris, here is the abstract:

Focused on the emerging conditions of industrial capitalism in Britain in their own time, the classical economists were able to provide an account of the broad forces that influence economic growth and of the mechanisms underlying the growth process. Accumulation and productive investment of a part of the social surplus in the form of profits were seen as the main driving force. Hence, changes in the rate of profit were a decisive reference point for analysis of the long-term evolution of the economy. As worked out most coherently by Ricardo, the analysis indicated that in a closed economy there is an inevitable tendency for the rate of profit to fall. In this article, the essential features of the classical analysis of the accumulation process are presented and formalized in terms of a simple model.

Here is the full piece.  Here are other pieces by Donald J. Harris, professor emeritus at Stanford, economist, and father of Kamala Harris.  Here is further background on him.

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