Classical economics asserts that markets function best without government interference. It was developed in the late 18th and early 19th century by Adam Smith, Jean-Baptiste Say, David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus, and John Stuart Mill. Many writers found Adam Smith's idea of free markets more convincing than the idea, widely accepted at the time, of protectionism.Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations in 1776 is usually considered to mark the beginning of classical economics.