The Mediterranean Tradition in Economic Thought (Routledge History of Economic Thought)

The Mediterranean Tradition in Economic Thought surveys the legacy of thinking on economic affairs from the countries in the Mediterraean basin over four millenia. It considers the economic content of the scriptures of the Mesopotamian civilisations, Pharaonic Egypt and the Biblical peoples and the contributions of the Greeks and Romans, and their influence on Islamic civilisation and on the Medieval scholastics. The flowering of the school of Salamanca as recently as the seventeenth century demonstrates how long-lived the tradition was, and throughout Baeck demonstrates how these ideas continue to survive and resurface, citing the renewed interest in the ethical dimension of economics, the revival of interest in the history of Islamic thought, and the re-emergence of Slavophile doctrines in contemporary Russian. Economics, Finance, Business & Industry BOOK COVER 1 HALF-TITLE 2 TITLE 4 COPYRIGHT 5 CONTENTS 6 THE AUTHOR 9 PREFACE 10 I THE MEDITERRANEAN TRADITION 12 MEDITERRANEAN ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND ATLANTIC ECONOMICS 12 THE ROOTS OF THE TRADITION 17 WHAT IS IN THE TERM ‘TRADITION’ 18 THE REVIVAL OF THE MEDITERRANEAN TRADITION 21 THE READING OF ANCIENT TEXTS 25 ECONOMIC HUMANISM: A NEW THEME 28 II THE NEAR EASTERN PRECURSORS 31 THE DAWN OF CIVILIZATION 31 THE MESOPOTAMIAN LEGAL TRADITION 35 PHARAONIC EGYPT 37 THE BIBLICAL TRADITION 42 CONCLUSION 51 III THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE GREEK ESSAYISTS AND PHILOSOPHERS 53 THE EMERGENCE OF RATIONALISM AND SECULARISM 53 ESSAYISTS AND PAMPHLETEERS IN FOURTH-CENTURY ATHENS 57 The intellectual scene 57 The pan-Hellenic platform of Isocrates 58 Xenophon’s models of management 61 PLATO’S ANTI-ECONOMIC TRADITION 72 The man and the philosopher 72 The genesis of the state and its economic origins 77 The material base of society21 77 The moral and social crisis of the opulent state 78 The social division of labour 79 Production and trade 79 Money 81 Conclusion 82 ARISTOTLE EXPLORES THE ECONOMY 83 The man and the scientist 83 The discourse on politics 87 The discourse on justice 94 Justice in exchange 98 THE HISTORICAL TRAJECTORY OF ARISTOTLE’S ANALYSIS 102 IV THE ECONOMIC THOUGHT OF CLASSICAL ISLAM AND ITS REVIVAL 105 ISLAM AS A FORCE IN HISTORY 105 THE SOURCES AND THEIR INTERPRETATION 108 LAW, JURISPRUDENCE AND HISBAH 110 Zaid Ibn Ali 110 Tadbir al-madina 111 Ibn Taymiyyah 112 Ibn al-Qayyim 114 Al-Maqrizi 115 THE PERSIAN TRADITION 116 KALAM AND FALSAFA 118 Abu Hamid al-Ghazali 119 Ibn Rushd 121 THE GLOBAL VISION OF IBN KHALDUN 123 TRANSFER CHANNELS AND IMPACT IN THE WEST 128 The translation centres 128 The transmission belts: Catalonia and Languedoc 129 THE REVIVAL OF THE ISLAMIC TRADITION 130 Arab Third-worldism 132 The Islamic branch 132 V THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE CISTERCIAN ORDER 134 THE WEBER THESIS REVISITED 134 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 136 THE CISTERCIANS AND THE RURAL ECONOMY 137 A PROTOTYPE OF MULTINATIONAL AGRIBUSINESS 138 THE DEVELOPMENT TRAP OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY 138 AN INNOVATIVE CORPORATE CULTURE AND STRUCTURE 140 THE TRANSITION TO THE LATE MIDDLE AGES 143 VI MEDIEVAL THOUGHT IN THE LATIN WEST 145 THE LATE BLOOMING OF THE LATIN WEST 145 THE ROMAN LEGISTS 149 THE TEACHING OF THE CANONISTS 154 THE CONTRIBUTION OF SCHOLASTIC THEOLOGY 161 ALBERTUS MAGNUS AND THOMAS AQUINAS 162 THE LANGUEDOCIAN FRANCISCAN P.J.OLIVI 170 MONEY AND THE ABUSE OF POWER 176 THE TURN TOWARDS MODERN TIMES 181 VII IBERIAN MONETARISM AND DEVELOPMENT THEORIES OF THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES 183 THE CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC SETTING 183 THE GREAT INFLATION 187 The influx of precious metals 187 The dawning of the quantity theory 187 THE SCHOOL OF SALAMANCA 189 The rejuvenation of scholastic economics 189 Perspectives and accents of study 190 Monetary analysis 191 A NEW PERCEPTION OF INFLATION 192 Martin de Azpilcueta 193 Tomás de Mercado 195 PURCHASING-POWER PARITY 196 THE POLITICAL ECONOMISTS OR ‘ARBITRISTAS’ 198 Doctrinal change: from public virtue to national wealth 198 The ideology of the arbitristas 199 The pioneer: Luis Ortiz 201 The crisis syndrome of the ‘arbitristas’ 203 PORTUGUESE ‘ALVITRISMO’ 208 REVIEW AND EVALUATION 210 Review 210 The intellectual contribution of Salamanca 212 The ‘arbitristas’ 213 Contrast with the imperialism thesis 213 THE HISTORICAL UNFOLDING OF THEORIES AND THEIR SOURCES 214 NOTES 217 BIBLIOGRAPHY 226 CHAPTER I 226 CHAPTER II 227 CHAPTER III 228 CHAPTER IV 231 CHAPTER V 234 CHAPTER VI 235 CHAPTER VII 237 INDEX 241 BOOK COVER......Page 1 HALF-TITLE......Page 2 TITLE......Page 4 COPYRIGHT......Page 5 CONTENTS......Page 6 THE AUTHOR......Page 9 PREFACE......Page 10 MEDITERRANEAN ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND ATLANTIC ECONOMICS......Page 12 THE ROOTS OF THE TRADITION......Page 17 WHAT IS IN THE TERM ‘TRADITION’......Page 18 THE REVIVAL OF THE MEDITERRANEAN TRADITION......Page 21 THE READING OF ANCIENT TEXTS......Page 25 ECONOMIC HUMANISM: A NEW THEME......Page 28 THE DAWN OF CIVILIZATION......Page 31 THE MESOPOTAMIAN LEGAL TRADITION......Page 35 PHARAONIC EGYPT......Page 37 THE BIBLICAL TRADITION......Page 42 CONCLUSION......Page 51 THE EMERGENCE OF RATIONALISM AND SECULARISM......Page 53 The intellectual scene......Page 57 The pan-Hellenic platform of Isocrates......Page 58 Xenophon’s models of management......Page 61 The man and the philosopher......Page 72 The material base of society21......Page 77 The moral and social crisis of the opulent state......Page 78 Production and trade......Page 79 Money......Page 81 Conclusion......Page 82 The man and the scientist......Page 83 The discourse on politics......Page 87 The discourse on justice......Page 94 Justice in exchange......Page 98 THE HISTORICAL TRAJECTORY OF ARISTOTLE’S ANALYSIS......Page 102 ISLAM AS A FORCE IN HISTORY......Page 105 THE SOURCES AND THEIR INTERPRETATION......Page 108 Zaid Ibn Ali......Page 110 Tadbir al-madina......Page 111 Ibn Taymiyyah......Page 112 Ibn al-Qayyim......Page 114 Al-Maqrizi......Page 115 THE PERSIAN TRADITION......Page 116 KALAM AND FALSAFA......Page 118 Abu Hamid al-Ghazali......Page 119 Ibn Rushd......Page 121 THE GLOBAL VISION OF IBN KHALDUN......Page 123 The translation centres......Page 128 The transmission belts: Catalonia and Languedoc......Page 129 THE REVIVAL OF THE ISLAMIC TRADITION......Page 130 The Islamic branch......Page 132 THE WEBER THESIS REVISITED......Page 134 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND......Page 136 THE CISTERCIANS AND THE RURAL ECONOMY......Page 137 THE DEVELOPMENT TRAP OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY......Page 138 AN INNOVATIVE CORPORATE CULTURE AND STRUCTURE......Page 140 THE TRANSITION TO THE LATE MIDDLE AGES......Page 143 THE LATE BLOOMING OF THE LATIN WEST......Page 145 THE ROMAN LEGISTS......Page 149 THE TEACHING OF THE CANONISTS......Page 154 THE CONTRIBUTION OF SCHOLASTIC THEOLOGY......Page 161 ALBERTUS MAGNUS AND THOMAS AQUINAS......Page 162 THE LANGUEDOCIAN FRANCISCAN P.J.OLIVI......Page 170 MONEY AND THE ABUSE OF POWER......Page 176 THE TURN TOWARDS MODERN TIMES......Page 181 THE CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC SETTING......Page 183 The dawning of the quantity theory......Page 187 The rejuvenation of scholastic economics......Page 189 Perspectives and accents of study......Page 190 Monetary analysis......Page 191 A NEW PERCEPTION OF INFLATION......Page 192 Martin de Azpilcueta......Page 193 Tomás de Mercado......Page 195 PURCHASING-POWER PARITY......Page 196 Doctrinal change: from public virtue to national wealth......Page 198 The ideology of the arbitristas......Page 199 The pioneer: Luis Ortiz......Page 201 The crisis syndrome of the ‘arbitristas’......Page 203 PORTUGUESE ‘ALVITRISMO’......Page 208 Review......Page 210 The intellectual contribution of Salamanca......Page 212 Contrast with the imperialism thesis......Page 213 THE HISTORICAL UNFOLDING OF THEORIES AND THEIR SOURCES......Page 214 NOTES......Page 217 CHAPTER I......Page 226 CHAPTER II......Page 227 CHAPTER III......Page 228 CHAPTER IV......Page 231 CHAPTER V......Page 234 CHAPTER VI......Page 235 CHAPTER VII......Page 237 INDEX......Page 241 The Mediterranean Tradition in Economic Thought surveys the development of this tradition over four millennia. It considers the economic context of the scriptures of the Mesopotamian civilizations, Pharaonic Egypt and the Biblical peoples and the contributions of the Greeks and Romans, and their influence on Islamic civilization and on the Medieval scholastics. The flowering of the school of Salamanca as recently as the seventeenth century demonstrates how long-lived the tradition was, and throughout, the author demonstrates how these ideas continue to survive and resurface, citing the renewed interest in the ethical dimension of economics, the revival of interest in the history of Islamic thought, and the re-emergence of Slavophile doctrines in contemporary Russia. It has become commonplace to consider economic thought as if it were almost entirely an Anglo-American affair, with only cursory references to economic thinking before Adam Smith. However, each of the civilizations that flourished in the Mediterranean basin long before the rise of the Atlantic economies left a rich legacy of thinking on economic affairs. This tradition is rooted in politics, ethics and religion: it was a more complete view than ours. It has become commonplace to consider economic thought as if it were almost entirely an Anglo-American affair, with only cursory references to economic thinking before Adam Smith. However, each of the civilizations that flourished in the Mediterranean basin long before the rise of the Atlantic economies left a rich legacy of thinking on economic affairs. This tradition is rooted in politics, ethics and religion: it was a more complete view than ours. The Mediterranean Tradition in Economic Thought surveys the development of this tradition over four millennia. It considers the economic context of the scriptures of the Mesopotamian civilizations, Pharaonic Egypt and the Biblical peoples and the contributions of the Greeks and Romans, and their influence on Islamic civilization and on the Medieval scholastics. The flowering of the school of Salamanca as recently as the seventeenth century demonstrates how long-lived the tradition was, and throughout, the author demonstrates how these ideas continue to survive and resurface, citing the renewed interest in the ethical dimension of economics, the revival of interest in the history of Islamic thought, and the re-emergence of Slavophile doctrines in contemporary Russia This book considers the rich legacy of thinking on economic affairs in the Mediterranean basin, tracing it back over four thousand years before the rise of the Atlantic economies.