Early Foundations (Antiquity to the Middle Ages):

• Ancient Greece: Philosophers like Aristotle discussed economic concepts such as the division of labor, property, and trade. Aristotle distinguished between "oikonomia" (household management) and "chrematistics" (wealth accumulation), viewing the former as natural and the latter as potentially corrupting. Source: Britannica

• Roman Empire: Focused mainly on practical aspects of economic administration, such as managing agriculture, taxation, and trade within the vast empire. Source: Britannica

• Medieval Period: Thomas Aquinas and other scholastic philosophers addressed economic issues from a moral and ethical standpoint, focusing on just prices, fair trade, and the legitimacy of interest. Source: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Mercantilism (16th-18th Centuries):

• Emergence of Nation-States: Mercantilism arose with the consolidation of nation-states in Europe. It advocated government control of the economy to maximize exports and minimize imports, accumulating wealth in the form of gold and silver. Source: Investopedia

• Key Policies: Included protectionist measures such as tariffs, subsidies for domestic industries, and the establishment of colonies to provide raw materials and markets. Prominent figures included Thomas Mun and Jean-Baptiste Colbert. Source: Britannica

Classical Economics (18th-19th Centuries):

• Adam Smith: The Wealth of Nations (1776) is a foundational text, advocating for free markets, division of labor, and the "invisible hand" by which individual self-interest promotes societal welfare. Source: Britannica

• David Ricardo: Developed the theory of comparative advantage, arguing that countries should specialize in producing goods they can produce at a lower opportunity cost. Source: Britannica

• Thomas Malthus: Known for his theory on population growth, arguing that population tends to increase faster than the means of subsistence. Source: Britannica

Marxist Economics (19th Century):

• Karl Marx: Critiqued capitalism, arguing that it inevitably leads to exploitation of workers, class struggle, and eventual revolution. His major work, Das Kapital, analyzes the capitalist mode of production. Source: Britannica

• Labor Theory of Value: Marx adopted and expanded the labor theory of value, asserting that the value of a commodity is determined by the amount of labor required to produce it. Source: Investopedia

Neoclassical Economics (Late 19th-20th Centuries):

• Marginalism: Focused on marginal utility and marginal cost in decision-making. Key figures include Carl Menger, William Stanley Jevons, and Léon Walras. Source: Britannica

• Alfred Marshall: Synthesized classical and marginalist ideas, emphasizing supply and demand, market equilibrium, and the importance of time in economic analysis. Source: Britannica

Keynesian Economics (20th Century):

• John Maynard Keynes: Argued that government intervention is necessary to stabilize the economy, especially during recessions. His book, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936), revolutionized macroeconomics. Source: Britannica

• Fiscal Policy: Advocated the use of government spending and taxation to influence aggregate demand and employment. Source: Investopedia

Contemporary Economics (20th-21st Centuries):

• Monetarism: Emphasizes the role of money supply in the economy, associated with Milton Friedman. Source: Britannica

• New Classical Economics: Incorporates rational expectations and microfoundations into macroeconomic models. Source: Investopedia

• Behavioral Economics: Integrates psychological insights into economic analysis, studying how cognitive biases affect decision-making, with key figures like Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. Source: Nobel Prize Website