History of Economic Thinking

Note. In economics, it is common to conflate praxis (what economic actors and states do) with theory (how those actions are later conceptualized), and to implicitly assume that theory precedes practice. This assumption is frequently false.

Mercantilism, for example, cannot be properly framed as the history of a coherent mercantilist theory. It is primarily the history of a set of practices—administrative techniques, fiscal instruments, trade regulations, and policy experiments—that were only later rationalized or partially systematized in theoretical terms.

Terminological caution. Labels such as capitalism, mercantilism, or liberalism are just that—labels. They refer to heterogeneous ontic elements (institutions, practices, power relations, production structures) and sometimes to synoptic constructs imposed ex post. Analytical evaluation should therefore focus on the referent (the underlying structures and practices), not on the label itself.

History of Economic Science

What have been the subjects of study in Economic Science?

Note: This "History" is not the history of economics itself, but rather the history of mainstream economic thought—or the perceived, popular trajectory of the field. Technology has always been central to some economic thinking, going back to the 16th century.

Period	Scope	Description	Researcher(s)
Medieval	Moral & Ethical Constraints	Economics embedded in moral philosophy; decision-making analyzed under religious, social, and legal constraints; emphasis on just pricing, fairness, and stewardship of resources.	Thomas Aquinas, Ibn Khaldun
Ancient / Pre-Modern	Science of Wealth	Focused on accumulation, distribution, and management of material resources; largely normative and prescriptive. Wealth was central; decisions were analyzed in the context of social order and trade.	Aristotle, Xenophon, Confucius
Classical (18th–19th c.)	Production & Markets	Economics as rational allocation of scarce resources; formal analysis of production, labor, and capital under constraints; early focus on efficiency and growth.	Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill
Neoclassical (late 19th c.–early 20th c.)	Decision-Making Under Constraints	Abstracted individual choice under scarcity; utility maximization and constrained optimization become central; wealth derived from decisions.	Alfred Marshall, Vilfredo Pareto
Keynesian / Welfare (20th c.)	Macro Constraints & Policy	Decision-making of households, firms, and governments under macroeconomic constraints; focus on unemployment, investment, and aggregate wealth outcomes.	John Maynard Keynes, Joan Robinson
Institutional / Behavioral (20th–21st c.)	Social & Cognitive Constraints	Decisions influenced by institutions, social norms, bounded rationality; technology and culture alter feasible choices; wealth as emergent.	Thorstein Veblen, Herbert Simon, Daniel Kahneman
Modern / Technology-Driven (21st c.)	Decision-Making with Technological Change	Study of how technology shifts constraints (information, production, labor) and impacts wealth outcomes; economic science studies adaptation and optimization under changing feasible sets.	Erik Brynjolfsson, Mariana Mazzucato, Daron Acemoglu

Theory–Praxis Space

Primary Mode	Label	Description	Region	Period	Tags
Theory	Classical Liberalism	Emphasizes market coordination, private property, freedom of contract, and limited state intervention; theory crystallized after extensive commercial and institutional practice.	Britain, Western Europe	18th–19th c.	markets, laissez-faire, property, individualism
Praxis (Proto-Statist)	Mercantilism	A heterogeneous ensemble of fiscal, trade, and industrial policies aimed at state power, revenue extraction, and balance-of-trade management; theoretical coherence largely ex post.	Western Europe	16th–18th c.	state capacity, trade policy, bullionism, administration
Praxis (Policy-Literary)	Arbitrismo	A genre of policy proposals addressing fiscal crisis and perceived decline, especially in Spain; pragmatic, often speculative, weakly formalized, and case-driven.	Spain	late 16th–17th c.	fiscal reform, decline, proposals, pamphleteering
Praxis (Developmental)	Proyectismo	Project-based economic interventions (infrastructure, industry, finance) promoted by administrators and entrepreneurs rather than academic theorists.	Iberian world, France	17th–18th c.	projects, public works, entrepreneurship, state-led development
Discourse (Reformist)	Regeneracionismo	Diagnostic and normative discourse identifying national economic and institutional decay; advocates modernization, education, and productive reform rather than abstract theory.	Spain	late 19th–early 20th c.	modernization, national decline, institutional reform
Theory (Systematic)	Physiocracy	The first internally systematic economic theory, centered on natural order, surplus, and agriculture as the primary productive sector; strongly deductive and normative.	France	mid-18th c.	surplus, agriculture, natural order, early formal theory