The article discusses how economists have different views on the importance of institutions in shaping economic systems. Adam Smith believed in studying historical institutions to understand market efficiency. David Ricardo focused on abstract models without historical context. John Stuart Mill and Alfred Marshall combined deductive reasoning with historical analysis. Neoclassical economics emphasizes universal laws of resource allocation, with Lionel Robbins refining this idea in 1932. Marshall aimed to provide practical economic policy solutions, but his influence waned in favor of Walras' equilibrium models.