The Economics Book

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Society and the economy

KEY THINKER

Thomas Aquinas (1225–74)

BEFORE

c.350 BCE In Politics, Aristotle says that all goods must be measured in value by one thing—“need.”

529–534 CE Roman courts protect landowners from being forced to sell land below the just price, at “great loss.”

AFTER

1544 The Spanish economist Luis Saravia de la Calle argues that price must be set by “common estimation” founded on quality and abundance.

1890 Alfred Marshall proposes that prices are automatically set by supply and demand.

1920 Ludwig von Mises argues that socialism cannot work because prices are the only way to establish need.

Many people know what it is ...