Modern economic theory is customarily said to have begun with Adam Smith (1723-1790). Adam Smith was influenced by a wide number of economic thinkers, going all the way back to the ancient Greek philosophers. The works of Aristotle had a profound influence on Thomas Aquinas and, through Aquinas, on subsequent scholastic thinking. Economic thought dates from earlier Mesopotamian, Greek, Roman, Indian, Chinese, Persian and Arab civilizations. Notable writers include Aristotle, Chanakya (also known as Kautilya), Qin Shi Huang, Thomas Aquinas and Ibn Khaldun through to the 14th century. Bryson of Heraclea was a new-platonic who is cited as having heavily influenced early Muslim economic scholarship. Joseph Schumpeter initially considered the late scholastics of the 14th to 17th centuries as coming nearer than any other group to being the 'founders' of scientific economics as to monetary, interest, and value theory within a natural-law perspective. This book provides deep insight into various dimensions of issues relating to the subject.