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The term economics was coined around 1870 and popularized by Alfred Marshall, as a substitute for the earlier term political economy which has been used through the 18-19th centuries, with Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Karl Marx as its main thinkers and which today is frequently referred to as the "classical" economic theory. Both economy and economics are derived from the Greek oikos- for "house" or "settlement", and nomos for "laws" or "norms".Economic thought may be roughly divided into three phases: Premodern ( Greek, Roman, Arab), Early modern ( mercantilist, physiocrats) and Modern (since Adam Smith in the late 18th century). Systematic economic theory has been developed mainly since the birth of the modern era.
1 Premodern economic thought
Several ancient philosophers made various economic observations. Among them Aristotle is probably the most important.
Mediaeval Arabs also made contributions to the understanding of economics. In particular, Ibn KhaldunAbu Zayd 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Khaldun al-Hadrami ( , May 27, 1332/ah732 to March 19, 1406/ah808) was a famous North African historiographer, historian and proto-sociologist. Biography Ibn Khaldun ( Tunis, 1332 Cairo, 1406) is widely acclaimed a of Tunis ( 1332Events November 7 Alliance of Lucerne, Switzerland, with Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden. Births May 27 Ibn Khaldun, Islamic sociologist and historian Deaths Theodore Metochita, Byzantine scholar 1332.- 1406Events Construction of Forbidden City begins in Beijing. Richard Whittington becomes Lord Mayor of London. December 25 John II becomes King of Castile. Eric of Pomerania marries Philippa, daughter of Henry IV of England. James I becomes King of Scotland,) wrote on economic and political theory in his Prolegomena , showing for example, how population density is related to the division of labour which leads to economic growth and so in turn to greater population in a virtuous circle.
Early Western precursors of economics engaged in the scholastics theologicalTheology is literally rational discourse concerning God ( Greek θεος, theos "God", + λογος, logos "rational discourse"). By extension, it also refers to the study of other religious topics. debates during the middle ages. An important topic of discussion was the determination of the just price of a good. In the religious wars following the ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a movement which began in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and An in the 16th century, ideas about free trade appeared, later formulated in legal terms by Hugo de Groot or Grotius (Mare liberum).
2 Early modern economic thought
During the Early Modern period, mercantilists came closer to establishing an economic theory. This diverse school mirrored the emergence of nation states in Western Europe and they emphasized keeping a positive balance of payments.
During the Enlightenment, the French physiocrats were among the first to consider economics in and of itself. The most important physiocrat was arguably Francois Quesnay (other contemporary French thinkers include Richard Cantillon and Anne Turgot). In his Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought , Murray Rothbard argued that the modern history of economics should properly begin with the physiocrats rather than with Smith.
