The progression toward a rational e

The progression toward a rational economic model began in distant history. It struggled from pre-historic times toward the Reformation, flowed through the Renaissance and into the Roaring Twenties. During the early periods of growth and prosperity, serious writers (they were not known as economists until the eighteenth century) observed that individuals were the prime movers in wealth creation. They were referred to as co-ordinators, combiners, speculators or any number of terms that imputed a vital actor who arranged affairs to create capital and prosperity (see Table 5.1). Adam Smith saw these individuals as playing such an important role in society that he advocated leaving them alone so that they might get on with creating wealth for the nation, the renowned “laissez-faire” notion.