Ancient economic thought
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In the history of economic thought, ancient economic thought refers to the ideas from people before the Middle Ages.
General principle
Ancient economic thought was in general hostile to enrichment and saw wealth as inner wealth. This attitude was coherent with an economy mainly closed and static, based on agriculture and on slave work. But also it greatly contributed to restrain economic development in ancient societies. Ancient economic thought had an enormous influence on early modern thought. The latter borrowed its hostility from enrichment, which contradicted the real tendency of the new society. Thus, from the beginning, modern economy could not enjoy the support of a high economic theory. It could not legitimate enrichment and the increase in consumption.
“….Men undoubtedly behaved economically for many centuries before they undertook to analyze economic behavior and arrive at explanatory principles. At first, this analysis was more implicit than explicit, more inarticulate than articulate, and more philosophical and political in mode than economic. But in the face of ubiquitous and inevitable scarcity, the study, in various forms and for various proximate purposes, went on…..”( Spengler & Allen 1960:2 )
Ancient Near East
Economic organization in the earliest civilizations of the fertile crescent was driven by the need to efficiently grow crops in river basins. The Euphrates and Nile valleys were homes to earliest examples of codified measurements written in base 60 and Egyptian fractions. Egyptian keepers of royal granaries, and absentee Egyptian landowners reported in the Heqanakht papyri. Historians of this period note that the major tool of accounting for agrarian societies, the scales used to measure grain inventory, reflected dual religious and ethical symbolic meanings (Lowry 2003:12.)
The Erlenmeyer tablets give a picture of Sumerian production in the Euphrates Valley around 2,200-2,100 B.C.E., and show an understanding of the relationship between grain and labor inputs (valued in "female labor days") and outputs and an emphasis on efficiency. Egyptians measured work output in man-days.
The development of sophisticated economic administration continued in the Euphrates and Nile valleys during the Babylonian Empire and Egyptian Empires when trading units spread through the Near East within monetary systems. Egyptian fraction and base 60 monetary units were extended in use and diversity to Greek, early Islamic culture, and medieval cultures. By 1202 C.E. Leonardo of Pisa Fibonacci use of zero and Vedic-Islamic numerals, motivated Europeans to apply zero as an exponent, birthing modern decimals 350 years later.
The city states of Sumer developed a trade and market economy based originally on the commodity money of the Shekel which was a certain weight measure of barley, while the Babylonians and their city state neighbors later developed the earliest system of economics using a metric of various commodities, that was fixed in a legal code. The early law codes from Sumer could be considered the first (written) economic formula, and had many attributes still in use in the current price system today... such as codified amounts of money for business deals (interest rates), fines in money for 'wrong doing', inheritance rules, laws concerning how private property is to be taxed or divided, etc.For a summary of the laws, see Babylonian lawin Horne (1915.)
Earlier collections of (written) laws, just prior to Hammurabi, that could also be considered rules and regulations as to economic law for their cities include the codex of Ur-Nammu, king of Ur (ca. 2050 B.C.E.), the Codex of Eshnunna (ca. 1930 B.C.E.) and the codex of Lipit-Ishtar of Isin (ca. 1870 B.C.E.).
Ancient Greco-Roman World
Some prominent classical scholars assert that relevant economic thought did not arise until the enlightenment, as early economic though was based on metaphysical principles which are incommensurate with contemporary dominant economic theories such as neo-classical economics (Lowry (2003), which cites especially Meikle (1995) and Finley (1970).
However, several ancient Greek and Roman thinkers made various economic observations, starting with Hesiod in 8th century B.C.E. He believed that scarcity does not arise from a human condition related to limited resources and unlimited desires; rather, it was one of the evils released when Pandora opened the Box. Hesiod's economic ideas are presented in Works and Days, in which he initiates a pursuit of economic questions that continued for two centuries. Being a farmer, Hesiod was interested in efficiency. Economists use the concept of efficiency in a number of contexts. It is measured as a ratio of outputs to inputs. Maximum efficiency is taken to be achieving the largest possible output with a given input. The units of measurement of outputs and inputs can be stated in physical terms (e.g., bushels of wheat per acre) or in monetary units (e.g. shekels of output or input).
Aristotle 's main contributions to economic thinking concerned the exchange of commodities and the use of money in this exchange. People's needs, he said, are moderate, but people's desires are limitless. Hence the production of commodities to satisfy needs was right and natural, whereas the production of goods in an attempt to satisfy unlimited desires was unnatural.
Apart from Aristotle, another famoushistorian was Xenophon. Many other Greek writings show understanding of sophisticated economic concepts. For instance, a form of Gresham’s Law is presented in Aristophanes’ Frogs, and beyond Plato's application of sophisticated mathematical advances influenced by the Pythagoreans is his appreciation of fiat money in his Laws (742a–b) and in the pseudo-Platonic dialogue, Eryxias(Lowry2003 :23.)Bryson of Heraclea was a neo-platonic who is cited as having heavily influenced early Muslim economic scholarship ( Spengler 1964.)
Xenophon
The influence of Babylonian and Persian thought on Greek administrative economics is present in the work of Greek historian Xenophon. Xenophon’s writing, some four hundred years after Hesiod, took the concepts of efficient management much farther than Hesiod and applied them at the level of the household, the producer, the military, and the public administrator. This brought him insights into how efficiency can be improved by practicing a division of labor. Attention to the division of labor was continued by other Greek writers, including Aristotle, and, later, by the scholastics.
Discussion of economic principles are especially present in Oeconomicus, his biography of Cyrus the Great, Cyropaedia, Hiero, and Ways and Means( Lowry 2003:14.)Hiero is a minor work which includes discussion of leaders stimulating private production and technology through various means including public recognition and prizes. Ways and Means is a short treatise on economic development, and showed an understanding of the importance of taking advantage of economies of scale and advocated laws promoting foreign merchants. The Oeconomicus discusses the administration of agricultural land. In the work, subjective personal value of goods is analyzed and compared with exchange value. Xenophon uses the example of a horse, which may be of no use to a person who does not know how to handle it, but still has exchange value.[1] Although this broadens the idea of value based in individual use to a more general social concept of value that comes through exchange, scholars note that this is not a market theory of value (Lowry 2003:17.)
In Cyropaedia Xenophon presents what in hindsight can be seen as the foundation for a theory of fair exchange in the market. In one anecdote, the young Cyrus is to judge the fairness of an exchange made between a tall and a short boy. The tall boy forces the pair to exchange tunics, because the tall boy's tunic is too short, shorter than the short boys, which is too tall for him. Cyrus rules the exchange fair because it results in a better fit for both boys. Cyrus' mentors were not pleased with Cyrus' basing his decision on the values involved, as a just exchange must be voluntary.[2] Later in the biography, Xenophon discusses the concept of division of labor, referencing specialized cooks and workers in a shoemaking shop.[3] Scholars have noted that Adam Smith's early notes about this concept "read like a paraphrase of Xenophon's discussion of the role of the carpenter as a "jack of all trades" in small cities and as a specialist in large cities ( Lowry 2003:18. ) Xenophon also presents an example of mutual advantage from exchange in a story about Cyrus coordinating an exchange of surplus farmland from Armenians, who were herders, and surplus grazing land from Chaldeans, who were farmers.[4]
Aristotle
Aristotle's main contributions to economic thinking concerned the exchange of commodities and the use of money in this exchange. People's needs, he said, are moderate, but people's desires are limitless. Hence the production of commodities to satisfy needs was right and natural, whereas the production of goods in an attempt to satisfy unlimited desires was unnatural. Aristotle conceded that when goods are produced to be sold in a market, it can be difficult to determine if this activity is satisfying needs or inordinate desires; but he assumed that if a market exchange is in the form of barter, it is made to satisfy natural needs and no economic gain is intended.
Allocation of scarce resources was, therefore, a moral issue to Aristotle, and in book I of his Politics, Aristotle expresses that consumption was the objective of production, and the surplus should be allocated to the rearing of children, and personal satiation ought to be the natural limit of consumption. (To Aristotle, the question was a moral one: in his era child mortality was high.) In transactions, Aristotle used the labels of "natural" and "unnatural." Natural transactions were related to the satisfaction of needs and yielded wealth that was limited in quantity by the purpose it served. Un-natural transactions aimed at monetary gain and the wealth they yielded was potentially without limits. He explained the un-natural wealth had no limits because it became an end in itself rather than a means to another end—satisfaction of needs. This distinction is the basis for Aristotle's moral rejection of usury ( Lowry 2003:15.)
Later, in book VII of Politics, Aristotle formulates the concept of diminishing marginal utility and an ordinal hierarchy of values, which later appeared in Maslow's contribution to motivation theory.
Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, particularly book V.v, has been called the most economically provocative analytic writing in ancient Greece ( Lowry 2003:20. )Therein, Aristotle discusses justice in distribution and exchange. Still considering isolated exchanges rather than markets, Aristotle sought to discuss just exchange prices between individuals with different subjective values for their goods. Interestingly, Aristotle suggested three different proportions to analyze distributive, corrective, and reciprocal or exchange transactions: the arithmetic, the geometric, and the harmonic. The harmonic proportion is interesting, as it implies a strong commitment to the subjective values of the traders. Sixth century C.E. philosopher Boethius used the example of 16 as the harmonic mean of 10 and 40. 16 is the same percentage larger than 10 as it is smaller than 40 (60 percent of 10 is 6, while 60 percent of 40 is 24). Thus if two bargainers have subjective prices for a good of 10 and 40, Aristotle points out that in exchange, it is most fair to price the good at 16, due to the equality proportional differences from their price to the new price. Another interesting nuance in this analysis of exchange is that Aristotle also saw a zone of consumer surplus or mutual advantage to both consumers that had to be divided (Lowry 2003:20.)
Roman law
Early Greek and Judaic law follow a voluntaristic principle of just exchange; a party was only held to an agreement after the point of sale. Roman law developed the contract recognizing that planning and commitments over time are necessary for efficient production and trade. The Roman Law had been comprised in twelve tablets and Cicero has this to say about it. in 450 C.E.:
“….Though all the world exclaim against me, I will say what I think: that single little book of the Twelve Tables, if anyone look to the fountains and sources of laws, seems to me, assuredly, to surpass the libraries of all the philosophers, both in weight of authority, and in plenitude of utility….” ( Cicero, De Oratore, I.44. In: Thatcher 1901: 9-11.)
We shall present only those having direct impact on economy ( and as such are till today a base of the so called, Roman Law that, in turn is the base of most of European law systems ):
- Table III.
1.One who has confessed a debt, or against whom judgment has been pronounced, shall have thirty days to pay it in. After that forcible seizure of his person is allowed. The creditor shall bring him before the magistrate. Unless he pays the amount of the judgment or some one in the presence of the magistrate interferes in his behalf as protector the creditor so shall take him home and fasten him in stocks or fetters. He shall fasten him with not less than fifteen pounds of weight or, if he choose, with more. If the prisoner choose, he may furnish his own food. If he does not, the creditor must give him a pound of meal daily; if he choose he may give him more ( ibid.)
- Table VI.
1. When one makes a bond and a conveyance of property, as he has made formal declaration so let it be binding. 3. A beam that is built into a house or a vineyard trellis one may not take from its place( ibid.).
- Table VII.
1. Let them keep the road in order. If they have not paved it, a man may drive his team where he likes. 9. Should a tree on a neighbor's farm be bend crooked by the wind and lean over your farm, you may take legal action for removal of that tree. 10. A man might gather up fruit that was falling down onto another man's farm.( ibid. )
- Table VIII.
10. Any person who destroys by burning any building or heap of corn deposited alongside a house shall be bound, scourged, and put to death by burning at the stake provided that he has committed the said misdeed with malice aforethought; but if he shall have committed it by accident, that is, by negligence, it is ordained that he repair the damage or, if he be too poor to be competent for such punishment, he shall receive a lighter punishment. 12. If the theft has been done by night, if the owner kills the thief, the thief shall be held to be lawfully killed ( ibid.)
- Table IX.
4. The penalty shall be capital for a judge or arbiter legally appointed who has been found guilty of receiving a bribe for giving a decision ( ibid.) The large body of law was unified in the 530s AD by Justinian who was Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire from 526-565 C.E. In Institutiones, the principle of just trade is stated as "tantum bona valent, quantum vendi possunt" ("goods are worth as much as they can be sold for").[5]
The Scholastics
The "Scholastics" refer to the group of 13th and 14th Century theologians, notably the Dominican St. Thomas Aquinas, that set down the dogma of the Catholic Church in light of the resurrection of the Greek philosophy in the hands of 12th Century Islamic scholars. In the economic sphere, we can discern roughly four themes the Scholastics were particularly concerned with: property, justice in economic exchange, money, and usury.
The coexistence of private property with Christian teachings was never comfortable. In the 5th Century, the early Church fathers (the "Patricians", e.g. St. Augustine) had struck down "communistic" Christian movements and the Church itself went on to accumulate enormous amounts of property. In the 12th Century, St. Francis of Assisi began a movement (the "Franciscans"), which insisted on vows of poverty, "brotherhood" and deplored the accumulative tendencies of the Church.
Against the Franciscans were arrayed St. Thomas and the Dominicans, who dug out of Aristotle and the Bible the necessary arguments to put down their challenge. The Thomists took a practical stance: they argued that private property was a "conventional" human arrangement with no moral implications, and furthermore, it had the nice side-effect of stimulating economic activity and thus general welfare. The Thomists cautioned that this did not mean they blankly endorsed all private enterprise: the "love of lucre", they noted, was a serious sin. They stressed the fact that man only has "stewardship" of God's property and should make property available for communal use. They also claimed that theft in times of need was justifiable ( Lapidus 1994).
Another question that arose was that of entrepreneurship. Should a merchant be allowed to profit from differentials in prices? The Scholastics replied with a qualified yes, provided the merchant is not motivated by pure gain and profit be only just enough to cover his labor expenses (sacrifices) of the merchant. They went on to argue that the trader, far from being a parasite, is performing a valuable service and increasing general welfare by meeting different needs.
Ancient India
Chanakya
Chanakya (c. 350 B.C.E.-275 B.C.E.) considered economic issues. He was a professor of political science at the Takshashila University of ancient India, and later the Prime Minister of the Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya. He wrote the Arthashastra ("Science of Material Gain" or "''Science of political economy" in Sanskrit), which can be considered a precursor to Machiavelli's The Prince. Many of the topics discussed in the Arthashastra are still prevalent in modern economics, including its discussions on the management of an efficient and solid economy, and the ethics of economics. Chanakya also focuses on issues of welfare (for instance, redistribution of wealth during a famine) and the collective ethics that hold a society together.
The Arthashastra argues for an autocracy managing an efficient and solid economy. The qualities described is in effect that of a command economy. It discusses the ethics of economics and the duties and obligations of a king. The scope of Arthaśāstra is, however, far wider than statecraft, and it offers an outline of an entire civil and criminal code and bureaucratic framework for administering a kingdom, with a wealth of descriptive cultural detail on topics such as mineralogy, mining and metals, agriculture, animal husbandry and medicine. The Arthaśāstra also focuses on issues of welfare (for instance, redistribution of wealth during a famine) and the collective ethics that hold a society together.
Chanakya says that artha (sound economies) is the most important quality and discipline required for a Rajarshi, and that dharma & kama are both dependent on it. Chanakya writes on the economic duties of a king:
"Hence the king shall be ever active in the management of the economy. The root of wealth is (economic) activity and lack of it (brings) material distress. In the absence of (fruitful economic) activity, both current prosperity and future growth will be destroyed. A king can achieve the desired objectives & abundance of riches by undertaking (productive) economic activity."
According to Chanakya, a conducive atmosphere is necessary for the state's economy to thrive. This requires that a state's law and order be maintained. Arthashastra specifies fines and punishments to support strict enforcement of laws (the Dandaniti).
Ancient China
Qin Shi Huang
Ideal and effective economic policy was long sought for in ancient China, one of the greatest early reformers being the Emperor Qin Shi Huang (r. 221 B.C.E.-210 B.C.E.), who standardized coin currency throughout the old Warring States once he unified them under a strong central bureaucracy (which the Zhou Dynasty had always lacked).
Wang Anshi
However, one of the greatest economic reformers in China lived during the medieval Song Dynasty (960-1279 C.E.), that being Chancellor Wang Anshi (1021-1086). Espousing heated reaction by conservative ministers at court, Wang Anshi's political faction of the New Policies Group enacted a series of reforms that centered around military reform, bureaucratic reform, and economic reform. The latter included low-cost loans for farmers (whom he considered the backbone of the Chinese economy in terms of production of goods and greatest source of the land tax).
Medieval Islamic world
The possible indebtedness of political economy to fourth-century Greek thinkers has been widely debated the contribution of Islam, on the other hand, is consistently forgotten. This volume addresses this neglect by examining in three parts the following questions: Is there a school of economic thought that can be considered specifically 'Arab', or have the Arabs succeeded in combining the Greek heritage with other, more oriental currents? Muslim economic thought has enriched the Hellenic contribution to economic thought in the areas of government of the kingdom by the caliph, of the city and the household organisation; the Arab concept of tadbîr should be examined in relation to each of these three levels. In rejecting profit, usury, egoism and monopoly, and in preaching moderation, altruism, the practice of fair prices, and unselfishness, Islam inaugurated an 'economic system' which has derived from that of the Greeks and which laid the basis for pre-capitalist thought.
Some of the eminent Arab ancient economic thinkers
We do not have, till date, a single comprehensive book on the history of economic thought in Islam. We do have, however, a number of papers, mostly written after the middle of this century, on the economic thinking of some eminent Islamic scholars in the past. Some of these we shall discuss here.
We include these attempts in Islamic economic thinking but ascribe them to the writers who made these attempts, rather than to the Qur'an and the Sunnah. This explains why a history of economic thought in Islam need not begin with a discussion of the economic contents of the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
- Zaid bin 'Ali (10-80 AH/699-738 C.E.)
The grandson of Imam Husain was one of the most eminent jurists of Madinah, whom other eminent jurists like Abu Hanifa held in high esteem. Some insight into his treatment of economic issues is provided by Abu Zahra in his biography. Zaid permitted the sale of a commodity on credit at a price higher than its cash price. Abu Zahra discusses a rationale of its permission at some length which is worth quoting in view of the contemporary relevance of the issue.
"….Those who disallow the deferred price to be higher than the cash price argue that the difference is' riba' as it is an increase (in payment against time), and every increase against deferment (or payment) is 'riba'. There is no difference between saying 'Either you pay now or pay more in lieu of deferment', and selling at a higher (than cash) price because of deferred payment. The essence is the same and it is 'riba' ...".
One who sells on credit does so out of necessity, he cannot be regarded as doing so willingly. He is therefore not covered by the Qur'anic verse "except when it is trade among you with mutual consent [IV: 29]".
- Abu Hanifa (80-150AH/699-767 C.E.)
A transaction which was becoming increasingly popular was salam or sale of commodity to be delivered in future against a price paid in cash at the time of contract. Abu Hanifa found a lot of confusion surrounding this contract leading to disputes. He tried to eliminate these disputes by specifying what must be known and stated clearly in the contract, such as the commodity, its kind, quality and quantity and the date and place of delivery. He laid down a further condition that the commodity be available in the market during the period intervening between the contract and the date of delivery so that both parties knew that its delivery was possible. Abu Hanifa's concern for the poor and the weak was known just as the human values in his juristic method.
- Abu Yusuf (113-182 AH/731-798 C.E.)
An emphasis on the economic responsibilities of the rulers has been a recurrent theme of Islamic economic thought since the earliest days. This happens to be the focal point of Abu Yusuf who addressed a long letter to Harun al-Rashid. This letter was later known as Kitab al-Khara} since the bulk of his discussion related to agricultural relations and taxation.
Abu Yusuf preferred the state taking a proportion of the agricultural produce from the cultivator rather than levy a fixed rent on agricultural land. This was more just and likely to yield a larger revenue by facilitating expansion of the area under cultivation. In discussing taxation, he lays down certain principles which anticipate those introduced many centuries later by the economists as "canons of taxation". He suggested salaried staff to act as tax collectors, who should be under strict supervision in order to prevent corrupt and oppressive practices.
The main strength of Abu Yusuf's thinking, however, lies in the area of Public Finance. Apart from the principles of taxation, and the responsibilities of the Islamic state related to welfare of the people, he has detailed suggestions on how to meet long term development expenditures like those on building bridges and dams, and digging canals, big and small. As briefly reported by Siddiqi, they speak highly of his foresight, sagacity and concern for the well-being of the population.
Conclusion
It is extremely interesting that virtually in all ancient cultures, the economic thinking conveged to several basic items: How to make the agricultural production more efficient, how to make markets, taxation policies and other monetary instruments transparent and free from corruption, usury and other practices that would otherwise destroy the wellbeing of ordinary law-abiding people on which the strong and unified states were built.
The other aim of these ancient thinkers was to ensure that their teaching in jurisprudence or economics were reaching the highest administrative levels of the country: emperors, kings, caliphs etc. and that these rulers will take care of enforcing those “canons of law.”
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
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- Horne, F.Charles (1915), The Code of Hammurabi: Introduction, Yale University 1915
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- Thatcher, Oliver J. ed., (1901) The Library of Original Sources ,Milwaukee: University Research Extension Co., , Vol. III: “The Roman World”, pp. 9-11.)
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