Economic Sutra: Modern Economic Policies and Ancient India

Science without history is like a man without memory. Economist Joseph Schumpeter too had said that visits, albeit brief ones, to the lumber room are profitable. Aim of this course is precisely to recover the family heirlooms! Many decades ago, Frank Knight of University of Chicago had rued that no ideas from India find a place in the literature on the history ofeconomic analysisTowards this end, we retrieve ancient India’s contribution to economic ethics and refresh the contribution juxtaposing against the mainstream literature on the history of economic thought. We refer to ancient Indian treatises such as Kautiliya Arthashastra, Shukranitisara, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas, Upanishads, and the Vedas. Relevance of the ancient Indian economic thought is brought out in bold relief for the modern timesThis course brings to light the economic ethics that had emerged in ancient India covering diverse treatises such Arthashastra, Shukranitisara, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas, Upanishands, and the Vedas. Relevance of the ancient Indian economic thought is brought out in bold relief for the modern times.Learning Objectives:Describe Key Principles of Ancient Indian Economic EthicsAnalyze the Concept of Purusharthas and Their Economic ImplicationsEvaluate the Frameworks of Ashrama and Varna in Ancient Indian SocietyCompare Ancient and Modern Economic Thought