Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), the most important thinker who has ever lived, advanced a body of thought
with respect to the development of the components of a market economy. He analyzed the economic
processes surrounding him and endeavored to delineate the place of economy within a society that
included commercial buying and selling. It follows that Aristotle’s economic writings continue to
attract the interest of contemporary thinkers. His economic thought (especially his value theory) is
insightful but occasionally contradictory and inconsistent.
