history of economics

History Of Economics

The Way Science Advances

The need for advancements is obvious at all of stages of life; what is however interesting at this stage refers to the processes undergone in achieving advancements. The first stage is for the phenomenon to be observed. It is then compared against others and included in a certain category, based on the observations made. After the classification, the new discovery is given a symbol. At the second stage, the researchers strive to reveal whether the discovery or advancements in indeed relevant. In other words, they try to identify if the scientific advancement is indeed a general fact or it can only be true in certain and sporadic conditions. This process is called generalization and it sees the linkage of the phenomenon to causes and the generation of hypotheses. Finally, after the tests have been conducted, the scientists move on to validating the results. If the findings are indeed in correlation with the initial hypotheses, the results are validated and a new scientific advancement has been born. It will then be placed in the society and tested on limited audience. If on the other hand, the results of the calculations do not correlate with the initial hypothesis, the phenomenon is not considered a scientific discovery. It is either abandoned or the researchers continue to work on it with the hope of correcting and validating it.

The stages in making a scientific advancement are often characterized by the usage of paradigms. The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (1995) defines the concept of paradigm as "a model or example that shows how something works or is produced." The scientific paradigm is "a generally accepted model for making sense of phenomena in a given discipline at a particular time. When one paradigm is replaced by another, it is called a paradigm shift" (the Free Dictionary, 2009).

2. Capitalism

Capitalism can be simply defined a system in which the individual rights are recognized and protected. Within the market and the economic system, the federal intervention is limited to inexistent and the players govern themselves by the rules of economics. Otherwise put, capitalism promotes the concept of laissez faire, or political freedom (the Capitalism Site).

The major characteristics of capitalism, which impact the economic systems, can be succinctly summarized as follows:

the economic systems decide what, how and how much to produce, and also the recipient of the production the economic system must possess the skills to adapt to the emergent changes in the micro and macro environments; the change revolves around the destruction of inefficient systems and their replacement with more efficient structures private property is protected there is freedom of enterprise (own business) and freedom of choice (work, spend or not works and not spend) self-interest guides the economic structures the market place is populated by numerous buyers and sellers, who have little control over the prices the market regulatory functions are performed by competition; the government does not interfere (Business Book Mall)

The questions posed and that must be answered by the players in capitalism revolve around the concepts of the modern market, such as the best strategies to overcome the competition, the most eloquent means of increasing production and cutting costs or the efficient allocation of resources.

3. Embedded and Disembedded Economy

The concepts of embedded and disembedded are generally used to "distinguish[...] between non-capitalist societies in which economic relations and structures are seen as organised through social relations and structures and capitalist economies in which economic relations are deemed to be distinct from social relations" (Cumberpatch, 2001).

The creator of the concepts used them to explain the transformation of economic systems and believed that up until the eighteenth century (which saw the raise of the unregulated market) the economic relations were governed by the principles of economic behavior. These principles were those of reciprocity, reallocation and house holding, and they were embedded in the way the civil and politic societies interacted. The end of the century however brought by the first signs of disembeddment and they revolved around the transformation of land and labor force into commodities. For the European countries for instance, a disembedded economy referred also to the territorial expansion of the companies. In this understanding then, the developed European countries had expanded their operations and moved to wider markets, where they increased their access to customers and also their revenues. And not only that they began to sell their products to larger audiences, but they also began to acquire cheaper commodities from the foreign regions; they employed cheaper workforce in the region; and operations of international transfer of capital begun to emerge.

Ultimately then, an embedded economy is generally an enclosed and protectionist one, and a disembedded system is based on free international operations. The second concept enjoys a contemporaneous application, in the form of market liberalization and globalization (Halperin, 2004).

4. Aristotle's Views on Acquisitions

Aristotle's views on economics are rather limited at even flawed at times. However, they are worth a look. The Greek philosopher classified the acquisition operations into two types: natural acquisitions and unnatural acquisitions. Natural acquisitions referred to the daily occupations of the individual which did not affect other lives. For instance, Aristotle included in the category of natural acquisitions occupations such as farming, hunting, fishing or raising sheep. The unnatural acquisition of wealth was derived from occupations of trade, which generated grater impacts upon others and which were unlimited. He emphasized on what he believed to be the moral and economic benefits of natural acquisition of wealth, in the detriment of commerce wealth (Philosophy 101).