ŠIMUN BABIĆ WITHIN SPECTRUM OF SCHOOLS OF ECONOMIC THOUGH

In this work, the author explores the theoretical aspects of certain works by Šimun Babić (1899-1971). These are works dealing with the economics of enterprises that emerged in the period from 1945 to 1971. Babić’s economic theories are considered and interpreted by the author from the standpoint of the “History of Economic Thought” as an academic discipline. In this sense, the author speaks of the disciplinary, i.e. historical interpretations and assessments contained in Babić’s works, which are by no means final. In this article, the author (a) describes and interprets Babić’s concepts of enterprise economics, and (b) offers an assessment of the position and role of Šimun Babić in the spectrum of schools of economic thought. The author’s assessment is that Šimun Babić belongs to a group of eclectic economists who combine ideas and theories, and differing schools of thought. Inhis conception of “enterprise economics” as a scholarly discipline, Babić combined the ideas and concepts which emerged from the Marxist school, the neoclassical school and the German historical school. The author’s conclusion is that Babić’s conception of “enterprise economics” as a scholarly discipline should not be rejected outright and replaced with neoclassical microeconomics—which is what has already occurred at the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb during the period from 1991 to 2001. These disciplines are not alternatives, but rather complementary, and both can develop within a pluralism of schools of thought and academic tolerance at economic faculties in Croatia.