The history of economic thought is the study of the philosophies of the different thinkers and theories in the subjects that later became political economy and economics, from the ancient world to the present day in the 21st century. This field encompasses many disparate schools of economic thought. Ancient Greek writers such as the philosopher Aristotle examined ideas about the art of wealth acquisition, and questioned whether property is best left in private or public hands. In the Middle Ages, Thomas Aquinas argued that it was a moral obligation of businesses to sell goods at a just price.
In the Western world, economics was not a separate discipline, but part of philosophy until the 18th–19th century Industrial Revolution and the 19th century Great Divergence, which accelerated economic growth in The World.
Ancient economic thoughtArthashastraRepublic (dialogue)Credit theory of moneyPolitics (Aristotle)Nicomachean EthicsMetallism and Oeconomicus
Hesiod active 750 to 650 BC, a Boeotian who wrote the earliest known work concerning the basic
origins of economic thought, contemporary with Homer. Of the 828 verses in his poem Works and Days, the first 383 centered on the fundamental economic problem of scarce resources for the pursuit of numerous and abundant human ends and desires.
Fan Li (also known as Tao Zhu Gong) (born 517 BC), an adviser to King Goujian of Yue, wrote on economic issues and developed a set of "golden" business rules. Discourses on Salt and Iron was one of the first recorded debates of state intervention and laissez faire.
Hindu texts Vedas (1700 BCE - 1100 BCE) contain economic ideas but Atharvaveda (1200 BCE) is most vocal about such ideas.
Chanakya (born 350 BC) of the Maurya Empire, authored the Arthashastra along with several Indian sages, a treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy.
The Arthashastra posits the theory that there are four necessary fields of knowledge: the Vedas, the Anvikshaki (philosophy of Samkhya, Yoga and Lokayata), the science of government, and the science of economics (Varta of agriculture, cattle, and trade).
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The circular flow of income or circular flow is a model of the economy in which the major exchanges are represented as flows of money, goods and services, etc. between economic agents. The flows of money and goods exchanged in a closed circuit correspond in value, but run in the opposite direction. The circular flow analysis is the basis of national accounts and hence of macroeconomics. The idea of the circular flow was already present in the work of Richard Cantillon.
Philosophy and economics studies topics such as public economics, behavioural economics, rationality, justice, history of economic thought, rational choice, the appraisal of economic outcomes, institutions and processes, the status of highly idealized economic models, the ontology of economic phenomena and the possibilities of acquiring knowledge of them. It is useful to divide philosophy of economics in this way into three subject matters which can be regarded respectively as branches of action theory, ethics (or normative social and political philosophy), and philosophy of science.
François Quesnay (fʁɑ̃swa kɛnɛ; 4 June 1694 – 16 December 1774) was a French economist and physician of the Physiocratic school. He is known for publishing the "Tableau économique" (Economic Table) in 1758, which provided the foundations of the ideas of the Physiocrats. This was perhaps the first work attempting to describe the workings of the economy in an analytical way, and as such can be viewed as one of the first important contributions to economic thought.
This course examines growth from various angles: economic growth, growth in the use of resources, need for growth, limits to growth, sustainable growth, and, if time permits, population growth and gro
The course allows students to get familiarized with the basic tools and concepts of modern microeconomic analysis. Based on graphical reasoning and analytical calculus, it constantly links to real eco
Since a few decades our planet has been loaded with billion tons of synthetic polymer-based materials, commonly named plastics. The large scale of plastic production, associated with its limited recyclability, are the driving force for the accumulation of ...
To reach optimal/better conceptual designs of energy systems, key design variables should be optimized/adapted with system layouts, which may contribute significantly to system improvement. Layout improvement can be proposed by combining system analysis wi ...
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The building industry is responsible for 35% of all solid waste in Europe and more than a third of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To address this, applying circular economy principles to the building sector is crucial, for example by reusing building elem ...