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Файл:History of economic thought. Textbook
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Aristotle's theory makes a distinction between economics and chrematistics.
Economy is the economic activity of people to satisfy natural needs. Chrematistics —
production and exchange for enrichment. Aristotle approves of economics and
condemns chrematistics.
Aristotle distinguishes between use value (benefit) and exchange value. For
example, shoes can be used for wearing or for exchange. The exchange will be fair if
everyone receives as much as he gives to the other.
Aristotle paid great attention to the study of money. He considered money to be
a means of making it possible to compare different needs. At the same time, money
fulfills its role as a measure of value only because people have agreed to accept it as
payment for goods.
Aristotle believed that since money does not give birth to children, i.e. coin
cannot yield coin, they cannot be lent, and all interest on loans is unfair.
Aristotle's theory of the golden mean was important. According to this theory,
every virtue is the average between opposite vices, and the truth is always in the
middle. Social contradictions in society can be overcome by creating a "middle
class", which forms the foundation of a stable state.
Economic thought of Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome is one of the most powerful ancient civilizations, whose
possessions were not limited to the Apennine Peninsula, but included the peoples of
North Africa, the Mediterranean, Europe and the Middle East.
The economic thought of Ancient Rome was aimed mainly at justifying the
slave system. Since the main area of application of slave labor in Ancient Rome was
agriculture, the main task of economic thought was to solve agrarian problems, and
above all the problem of the rational organization of slave-owning villas and
latifundia.
The economic life of Ancient Rome reflected the following problems:
- fight for land. Controversies arose between the large slave-owning nobility
and free inhabitants, peasants; between supporters of large land plots (latifundia) and
small plots (parcels);
- the problem of strengthening the slave economy, pacifying slaves; debt
slavery increased, absorbing a layer of free residents;
- contradictions between noble townspeople (patricians) and simple ones
(plebeians).
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Against this background, reforms were carried out, laws were adopted, and
treatises on economic management were created.
"The Laws of the XII Tables" (451–450 BC) — secured the right of private
property, sanctioned the legal differences between freemen and slaves.
Agrarian reform of the Gracchi brothers (political figures). The elder
brother Tiberius Gracchus (162–133 BC) in his reform proposed reducing the
allotments of large landowners and transferring the vacated lands to the peasants.
Tiberius did not oppose the rich, he simply understood that the presence of a layer of
free peasants would contribute to the stability of the slave regime (in the fight against
rebellious slaves). After the death of Tiberius, the reforms were continued by his
younger brother Gaius Gracchus (153–121 BC). He was more active and militant
than his older brother. Gaius put forward a program of colonization and distribution
of land and military spoils to the peasants. Thanks to his assistance, each citizen was
granted the right to receive a certain amount of bread every month from state stores,
at a price one-sixth below the selling price. As a result, the idle people of the capital,
unaccustomed to work and looking for free food, began to exist at the expense of
the provinces.
Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder (234–149 BC) — statesman, agricultural
scientist. He knew agriculture well, since he himself was a large landowner, and was
the first in Rome to develop regulations for the work of slaves in a commercial villa.
The Cato villa had its own full supply of all agricultural products and was engaged in
growing a monoculture for sale, for exchange with the city for handicraft goods. Cato
believed that farmers make the most loyal subjects and the most steadfast soldiers,
and that the income of farmers is the purest. In order to obtain high profits, he
advised selling the products of his farm during periods of high prices.
Cato described the functioning of the slave economy in his text "On
Agriculture". Cato's ideal was a highly intensive villa economy based on the
exploitation of slaves (although he also allowed the use of non-slave labor). Having
summarized the experience of running such a farm, Cato formulated a number of tips
for increasing its (farm) profitability. The work of slaves, according to Cato, should
be supervised by a special slave manager, whose main task is to monitor the
execution of the master’s orders. Cato called for dividing the slaves in every possible
way and sowing discord between them. At the same time, to increase the productivity
of slaves, he advised the use of material and moral incentives. He believed that slaves
should not have a bad time at all, and their living conditions should depend on how
hard they work.
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In the text, Cato gave detailed advice: how to run a household, keep track of
money, bread, wine, oil; how to calculate what is sold, what is collected, what
remains, what is for sale. The treatise gives an idea of the economic life of the
country, the "scales of land profitability", the importance of agriculture and trade,
giving money loans and saving property.
Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BC) was an agricultural scientist who also
considered the problems of the Roman latifundia. Author of the treatise "On
Agriculture".
Varro looked for ways to strengthen the economy in the development of not
only agriculture, but also cattle breeding, in the application of agronomic science,
increasing the intensity of production, improving the methods of exploitation of
slaves, and using material interest.
One of the main subjects of Varro's thoughts was the problem of the use of
slave labor. Although Varro defined the slave as a speaking instrument, he considered
the labor of the slave himself to be the most important factor in creating the wealth of
the owner. He saw the solution to the problem of increasing the slave's interest in the
results of labor in mitigating the conditions of slavery. He proposed replacing
corporal punishment with better food and clothing. In addition, he recommended that
owners give slaves some property (peculium) and allow them to have a family.
According to Varro, a slave with peculium works better in the hope of accumulating
funds for ransom, and the presence of a family in a slave allows the owner to hold
tighter these willful people in his hands.
Lucius Columella (approximately 4–70 AD) — writer, agronomist, representative of
the economic thought of Ancient Rome during the period of decline and disintegration
of the slave system. In his work "On Agriculture", he noted that slaves do not care
about high yields and do not cultivate the land well, so their labor is less productive than
the labor of small free producers. In this regard, Columella preferred small agricultural
farms based on free labor to large slave-owning latifundia.
Economic ideas of ancient Christianity
In the history of economic thought of antiquity, a special place belongs to early
Christianity (1st–2nd centuries AD). Originating in the Roman Empire, it spread
throughout and became one of the world's religions.
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Basic economic ideas:
- the idle life of the rich and merchants was condemned ("A camel will pass
through the eye of a needle sooner than a rich man into the Kingdom of Heaven", "If
you want to be perfect, go sell your property and give it to the poor", "Lend without
expecting anything in return");
- work was glorified ("Everyone will receive a reward according to their
work"); at the same time, work was considered not as a means of livelihood, but as a
test of human virtue;
- equality of all before God, even in the afterlife.
On this religious basis, ancient Christian communities arose, which the state
persecuted because they consisted of the "lesser brethren". In response to persecution,
communities were forced to unite, and as a result they began to have a community of
property.
Early Christianity demanded the renunciation of family and household and
promised to eliminate poverty by distributing the means of consumption within the
community. It should be noted that in the Roman Empire, the rich, like the free poor,
were as powerless in relation to the emperor as slaves were in relation to the slave
owners. So rich people started joining into the communities. This is how the alliance
between the church and the aristocracy was formed. In this regard, Christian ideology
began to change. People reconsidered their attitude towards wealth and, instead of
community of property, demanded charity, i.e. transferring only surpluses to
the community.
Christianity gradually turned into a great force with which the pagan emperors
had to reckon, and therefore at the beginning of the 4th century it was recognized as
the state religion.
TOPIC 3. ECONOMIC VIEWS IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Features of the economic thought of the Middle Ages reflected the following
processes:
- the decomposition of the community and the emergence of the feudal system;
- contradictions between subsistence farming and commodity market relations;
- strong influence on economic relations of religious and ethical norms.
The main focus of medieval economic doctrines was to justify the class
character of feudal society, the concentration of power in the hands of feudal lords,
the definition of the principles of rational organization of the local economy, the
search for methods of the most effective coercion of peasants, the collection of feudal
rent, the development of problems of the relationship between subsistence and
commodity economy, the development of trade, usury, etc.
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3.1. Economic thought in the Arab East
In the countries of the East, feudal lords did not have full power, but shared it
with the state — there was state feudalism.
Many economic views of the Arab world were reflected in religious literature,
primarily in the Quran (translated as "reading"). The Quran is the holy book of
Muslims, it is based on the speeches of the Prophet Muhammad (a merchant from
Mecca in Saudi Arabia).
Basic economic ideas of the Quran:
1. Divine origin of property and social inequality; the "general order" in the
world was determined, when there are rich and poor, masters and subordinates.
2. The principle of inviolability of private property (inadmissibility of
appropriating someone else’s property, entering a house without permission [thieves
had their hands cut off]).
3. Trade rules were established, i.e. maintaining accurate weights and measures
when performing trading operations.
4. Believers should not be greedy and should not strive for enrichment (Allah’s
prohibition of taking a high interest rate, paying "purifying mercy" as a national tax).
The pinnacle of economic thought in the medieval Arab world was the work of
the famous philosopher Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406). His life and work are connected
with the Arab countries in northern Africa, where the state traditionally retained the
right to own and dispose of land and levy high taxes on the income of the population
for the needs of the treasury.
The main work of Ibn Khaldun is called "Book of Lessons, Record of
Beginnings and Events in the History of the Arabs and the Berbers and Their
Powerful Contemporaries". There he put forward the concept of social physics, which
called for a conscious attitude towards work, the fight against waste and greed, an
understanding of the objectivity of progressive structural changes in the economic
spheres and the impossibility of property and social equality, and believed that Allah
gave an advantage to some people over others. Ibn Khaldun also substantiated the
theory of social development, according to which society, developing cyclically, goes
through three stages in its movement:
1) "wildness", where people appropriate the fruits of nature by hunting
and gathering;
2) "primitiveness", in which a primitive economy appears in the form of
agriculture and cattle breeding;
3) "civilization", when crafts and trade develop, concentrating in cities.
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Ibn Khaldun put forward the following main ideas:
1. The need for division of labor, which contributes to the emergence
of exchange.
2. Exchange is determined by the labor costs for the production of goods.
3. Fluctuations in prices for goods depend on the relationship between supply
and demand (he made the development of crafts dependent on the demand for
handicrafts).
4. The concepts of necessary and additional (excessive) labor are put forward.
5. Labor and non-labor income are separated.
6. Wealth is the result of human labor, just like money.
7. Money is the most important element of economic life; its role should be
played by full-fledged coins made of gold and silver.
8. The economic policy of the state should include measures to reduce taxes,
develop competition, fight monopolies, and ensure peace with neighboring countries.
3.2. Economic ideas in medieval Western Europe
The economic thought of the Western Middle Ages developed along with the
evolution of feudalism.
Early Middle Ages (VI–X centuries)
The early school of Canon Law was formed in the early Middle Ages. One of
its founders was Augustine of Hippo (354–430) — Bishop of Hippo, philosopher,
influential preacher, Christian theologian and politician, saint of the Catholic and
Orthodox churches. He was one of the first to lay down the dogmatic principles of the
religious-ethical approach to economic problems.
The economic views of Augustine of Hippo were a reflection of the interests of
the emerging class of feudal lords. In his theological works, he justified and
substantiated the existence of property inequality as an inevitable phenomenon of
social life. He considered property inequality itself to be eternal, and the desire to
abolish wealth as senseless. St. Augustine defined the state as a system of domination
of some people over others, the main purpose of which is not for people to achieve
happiness and good, but to survive in this world. In his opinion, only a Christian state
can be fair.
Supporters of early Canon Law fundamentally changed their attitude to the
physical, inherent to the ancient era. Unlike the ideologists of the ancient world, who
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expressed contempt for physical labor, supporters of early Canon Law considered
physical labor respectable. They categorically condemned trade profits and usurious
interest, considering them the result of improper exchange and appropriation of other
people's labor, and therefore sinful phenomena.
The basis of the methodology of early Canon Law was the principles of
undeniable authoritarianism of the evidence of the texts of the Holy Scriptures and
the works of church theorists, as well as the moral and ethical justification of
economic categories.
The main provisions of early Canon Law can be summarized as follows:
- division of labor: mental and physical types of labor are equivalent and
should not affect the person’s position;
- wealth: labor creates wealth in the form of material goods, including gold and
silver; unearned accumulation of the latter ("artificial wealth") is a sin;
- exchange: carried out according to the principle of proportionality and is an
act of free will of people;
- fair price: the value of a product must be established in accordance with labor
and material costs in the process of its production according to the principle of "fair
price";
- money: is an artificial invention of people and is necessary to facilitate and
speed up exchange transactions on the market due to the "intrinsic value" of the coin;
- trade profit and usurious capital: trade profit and usurious interest, extracted
from large trade and lending operations, turn into an end in themselves and therefore
should be regarded as heavenly and sinful phenomena.
The early Middle Ages are represented by the "barbarian laws" (Salice,
Burgundy, Bavaria, etc.), which are a record of the law of the Germanic tribes that
settled in the Roman province and formed a kingdom. The most famous is the Salic
law (beginning of the 6th century — 481–511), compiled in the kingdom of the
Franks. This is a collection of ancient judicial customs of the Franks. The appearance
of Salic law dates back to the period of decomposition among the Germanic tribes,
the clan system, the emergence of private land ownership, and the state. Salic law
contains a list of fines for various crimes, reflecting the economic views of the
communal peasantry and service people. The regulations are connected to issues of
agriculture, cattle breeding, gardening, vegetable gardening, etc.
Salic law considered agriculture as the most natural occupation of the Frank,
focusing mainly on the subsistence type of economy. It defended the ideas of a free
community, the sustainability of communal land tenure, and the priority of communal
ownership of land.
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Salic law recognized slavery, colony and large-scale land ownership. It also
agreed with the existence of royal power, which played a significant role, protected
the royal warriors, and the church hierarchy. During the early Middle Ages, issues of
economic policy of the feudal estate were developed. This was reflected in the
development of economic regulations, specific instructions for managers of feudal
large-scale production. Among them is the "Capitulare de villis" ("Law on Estates")
from the end of the 8th century.
"The Capitulare" considered royal power to be the center of economic and
political life; sanctioned large-scale land ownership of the feudal type as the main
form of economic management and serfdom as the natural state for the peasantry. In
this regard, "The Capitularе" put forward increased exploitation of serfs as the most
important task of economic policy. "The Capitulare" represented the organization of
feudal production, including the organization of the exploitation of serfs (servives).
For this purpose, it was proposed to create allotments (mansi) for them; transferring
some of the serfs to the position of servants (provendari), who were not allocated
land; the use of corvée and quitrent system, a complex apparatus of coercion.
Rural production based on subsistence farming was considered as the main
area of activity. The local economy, as noted in "The Capitulary", was obliged to
satisfy all the needs of the king, therefore the creation of various industries was
allowed, including the development of patrimonial craft.
Classical Middle Ages (XI–XV centuries)
During the period of the classical Middle Ages, the economic thought of
Western Europe was engaged in the development of problems associated with the
evolution of the feudal estate and economic policy. Among them:
- monopoly of feudal lords on land, serfdom;
- overcoming the limitations of natural and commercial economy development,
selling surplus agricultural products;
- corvée, collection of dues and fines in cash,
- urban development.
The problems of the Middle Ages are also reflected in the economic ideas of
Catholicism. The Catholic Church advocated strengthening serfdom and intensifying
the exploitation of peasants. It increased its lands at the expense of the peasant
community, canceled the acts of liberation of the peasants (Toledo Cathedral, etc.).
As a result, the Catholic Church united Western Europe into one political
whole, became the largest land owner, and collected taxes everywhere — tithes.
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Catholic theologians and interpreters of religious documents enjoyed great
authority. They were called canonists.
The ideas of the canonists are most fully expounded by the famous Italian
theologian and aristocrat Thomas Aquinas (1224–1265), whose work "Summa
Theologica" is an encyclopedia of Catholicism. In 1879, T. Aquinas was declared a
saint by the Catholic Church.
Ideas of T. Aquinas:
1. Thomas Aquinas advocated royal power, but gave preference to royal
theocracy and believed that the king should obey the Pope.
2. He said that just as there are differences in nature, people should have social
and property differences.
3. Believed that property is natural and legal, that it determines the division of
management functions (for the elite) and use (for serfs).
4. Believing that subsistence farming is the basis of well-being, Thomas
Aquinas argued that the state should be self-sufficient and receive all the necessary
products from its territory.
5. He divided wealth into natural (food, housing, land ownership, etc.) and
artificial (gold, silver); he believed that artificial wealth cannot be the goal of a
person who should strive for moral improvement.
6. He justified trade from the point of view of acquiring the necessary means of
life, as well as obtaining trade profits, which are necessary to justify expenses.
7. He argued that the processes of distribution of the created product and
pricing are determined by the social status of the participants in the exchange. Those
who matter more to public life should receive more. Therefore, when determining a
fair price, it is necessary to take into account the seller’s expenses and add to them
income, which allows the seller to live according to his place in the class hierarchy.
8. He asserted the sinfulness of charging interest for the use of money, since it
means selling something that does not exist and leads to inequality. However, in fact,
credit transactions became widespread, and Thomas Aquinas tried to find reasons for
charging interest. (He admitted that the lender could participate in the merchant’s
trade operations by financing them and then sharing the profits; that collateral could
be used; that if the lender suffers a loss as a result of the delay in returning his
property, then this loss must be compensated; if the debtor received funds that
generated income, he must return to the lender the income he received.)
During the period of the classical Middle Ages, economic thought also
explored the problems arising in connection with the economic legislation of kings,
with the help of which the royal power tried to arbitrarily intervene in economic life.
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This is evidenced by the decisions about industry, trade, usury, money, prices, the
prohibition of luxury, the position of artisans, the grain trade, etc.
However, the experiments of the kings often acquired the features of economic
sabotage (manipulation with coins, arbitrary depreciation of money, etc.). This led to
the emergence in economic thought of criticism of the policies of kings, the
representative of which was Nicole Oresme (XIV century), a French bishop. He
owns the "Treatise on the origin, nature, law, and alterations of money", which he
devoted to the problems of monetary circulation.
Oresme viewed money as an artificial instrument, invented to facilitate the
exchange of natural wealth. Regarding the material from which money should be
made, he wrote that it should be easy to exchange, transport, and contain high value
in a small volume. Such materials can be gold, silver, bronze and copper.
Oresme believed that the sovereign had the right to mint coins, the shape of the
coin should be difficult to reproduce, and minting should be carried out at the
expense of society.
Oresme focused his main attention in his treatise on the idea of the
inadmissibility of interference in the laws of monetary circulation, including arbitrary
changes in the exchange rate of a coin and a reduction in its material content on the
part of the king. He noted that the depreciation of the coin leads to a decrease in the
reserves of gold and silver in the country, a reduction in foreign trade, and disruption
of internal trade turnover.
Thus, Oresme came up with new ideas about the organization of
money circulation.
3.3. Economic ideas of feudal Russia
The economic ideas of medieval Russia can be found in various instructions,
economic rules, princely and royal laws.
"Russian Truth" is a set of laws that was in force in Rus from the 11th to the
15th centuries. It was compiled at different times by Yaroslav the Wise and his sons.
"The Truth of Yaroslav" gives a description of the urban feudal economy. The main
labor force in it is smerds (peasants enslaved to the level of slaves). "The Truth of
Yaroslav" consolidates serfdom, protects the rights of land owners and peasants,
determines taxes for various segments of the population, etc. "The Truth of
Yaroslavich" is dedicated to the protection of the property of the feudal lord and his
estate. The main wealth of the estate is the land on which the scum, serfs, and
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