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>1) What do you think was Aristotle's main contribution to the 
>development of economic thought? Why? 
>2) How did his ideas differ from those of his predecessors and  
>contemporaries specifically noting Plato, Xenophon or Hesiod? 
 
May I suggest you look at Appendix A of the best selling textbook in 
economics during the 1910s and 1920s, viz "Outlines in Economics"  
by Richard Ely, Thomas Adams and Allyn Young? The Appendix on the 
"Development of Economic Thought" has a very interesting section on 
Aristotle, Plato and Xenophon. It was almost certainly written by 
Allyn Young.  
 
Also of interest are Nicholas Kaldor's notes on Young's LSE lectures, 
1927-29, in a special issue of the Journal of Economic Studies, Vol 
17, Nos. 3/4, 1990, where Young traces the concept of "stages" in 
economic life to the Greeks. Says Young: "So long as men's economic 
activities reflected their intitutionally-determined position, e.g. 
serfs, there was no room for economics. The problems were juristic not 
economic, as seen in medieval discussions, and Aristotle's ethics of 
trade..." 
 
Roger Sandilands 
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