Economic thought of Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas has contributed to the questions currently studied by economists more than the standard history textbooks reflect. He has been developing ideas that were later on highlited by such economists as Adam Smith, David Hume and others. This study attempts to understand the contribution to economical thought that Thomas Aquinas has made in the areas of ethics, methodology, ownership rights, just price and social solidarity. This paper also contains a selection of his philosophical views that later on influenced the developement of economic thought - arguments againts Platonic idealism and stoicism, antropology, the issue of free will. Here his views are compared with Aristotle, Augustine and Thomas Hobbes.

Keywords: methodology, ownership rights, ethics, society, just price, antropology, Christianity, wealth, profit