PENSAMENTO LIBERAL: DA VANTAGEM ABSOLUTA À COMPETITIVA

Abstract

In the eighteenth century, when contrasted with practices theoretical trade management of the state and economy, the scottish philosopher Adam Smith formulated theses and utopias that have started the tradition known as liberalism. In the nineteenth century, the english economist David Ricardo acknowledged the validity of the various ideas of Smith and advanced further the study of the production and distribution of wealth among people and among nations. In the last quarter of the twentieth century, the ideas proposals by these two classic authors were resumed and served as a backdrop to various policies proposed and implemented in several countries. One of the exponents of this shift in thinking was the liberal north american economist Michael Porter updated that the ideas of Smith and Ricardo through the concept of competitive advantage. Moreover, Porter developed the concept of clusters to explain the success of companies of various industries in countries which concentrate capital and technology.