Faith_Based_Economy

Introduction Greek era gave the name economics ((Oikonomia - law of the household) and many moral insights in economics. It anticipated many of the founding economic principles for which the discipline remains ever indebted to the Greek era*. Under the Mediterranean tradition (up to Medieval era) economics was considered as a subset of moral philosophy. In that tradition theology was linked with philosophy to ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬ form the base for all human decisions. Spiritual (divine) and intellectual (rational / ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬ philosophical) sources of knowledge guided human actions. Religious norms, mainly the teachings of Christianity and Islam, were the guiding principles. The main focus was on justice and not exchange under the concept that each working for himself and the community in effect serves God; thus the present is the preparatory stage for the Hereafter. Realization of both individual and collective interest was the goal. In fact, because of its strong influence in that zone at a later part of the Medieval era, Islam was considered as the ‘guiding light’ behind the Mediterranean economic thoughts. With its Ummahtic (community) tradition it was a basic reference of collective identity and global vision (2). Economics then had a wider scope. Taking popularly accepted Greek era as the starting point a plausible periodization of history of economic thought can be as below : Ancient and Mediterranean Tradition : Greek era (427 BC – 0 BC) Roman era (0 – 5th century) Medieval and Islamic era (5th – 15th century) Mercantile era (16th – mid-18th century) Pre-classical and Physiocracy era (1750 -- 1776) Formal and modern econo thought / Atlantic economic tradition : Classical era (1776 – 1870) Neo-classical era (1870 – 1929) Postmodern economic thought / Contemporary economic thought : Institutionalist and Keynesian era (1930 – Neo-Institutionalist and Contemporary era 3 However, from the 16th century, with the rise of Mercantilist Philosophy, economic thought started severing its link with religion and having a secular foundation instead. With this foundation economics took formal shape at the hand of Adam Smith, regarded as the father of modern economics, during the classical era. Over the years, and more particularly at the hands of the neo-classical economists during the middle of 19th century to the 1st quarter of 20th century it gained greatly in mathematical and technical proficiency to qualify as a science, and earn the name as ‘darling queen’ of social sciences, and finally to secure a place in the list of disciplines qualified for the award of the most prestigious Nobel Prize.