在英国,18世纪是传统农业社会向现代工业社会转型的时期。这种经济的转型与当时经济理论的转变有着直接关联。在广义上的18世纪,英国主流经济理论经历了一种渐进的演变过程。以托马斯·孟为代表的晚期重商主义思想,对17世纪末、18世纪初的英国经济发展提供了理论指导;威廉·配第及马修·德克尔的经济学说,促成了重商主义向自由主义的过渡;亚当·斯密的自由主义学说,则实现了对重商主义的彻底突破,并为工业革命创造出相对宽松、自由的经济环境。18世纪主流经济理论的演变,既为当时的经济转型提供了理论基础,同时也成为英国社会转型的重要组成部分。 In Britain, the eighteenth century was a period in which the traditional agrarian society was transformed into a modern industrial society. This economic transformation is directly related to the change of economic theory at that time. In the broad sense of the eighteenth century, the mainstream British economic theory went through a gradual evolutionary process. The late Mercantilism represented by Thomas Meng provided theoretical guidance for the economic development of Britain in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The economic theory of William Matti and Matthew Decker led to the development of mercantilism Liberalism; Adam Smith’s liberal doctrine has brought about a radical breakthrough in mercantilism and a relatively liberal and free economic environment for the industrial revolution. The evolution of mainstream economic theory in the 18th century not only provided a theoretical basis for the then economic restructuring but also became an important part of the social transformation in Britain.