Economic Analysis in Talmudic Literature : Rabbinic Thought in the Light of Modern Economics

This lucidly written study is unique in that there is no book extant by an economic historian that discusses Talmudic economics in the light of modern economics. Its major focus is on the intricate debates, statements and principles that were forged by the Talmudic Rabbis. This ancient storehouse of learning includes a wealth of economic knowledge of modern sophistication. The book taps these "economic treasures" by way of analytic inquiry.
The authors, both economic historians and economists, through their study of the original dialectics in the Talmud, were able to discern a wide range of macro- and micro-economic ideas of major significance. These concepts when viewed from either a contemporary or a modern perspective, display an extraordinary degree of insight and sophistication. Indeed, sections of the Talmud and the reflections of subsequent commentators on those passages, embody a wealth of economic thought that was later to become significant in the reasoning of political economists, or of their professional academic successors.

Roman A. Ohrenstein,Ph.D., University of Munich, Germany, is Rabbi and professor emeritus of Economics at Nassau College, State University of New York. Publications: 'Game Theory in the Talmud - An Economic Perspective' The International Journal of Social Economics (1989), and various articles on the subject of Talmud and economics.
Barry L.J. Gordon, is Professor of Economics at the University of Newcastle, N.S.W. He is the author of 14 books and monographs, and numerous articles. Publications: Regional Modelling and Regional Planning (with M.T. Gordon) (1991), and The Economic Problem in Biblical and Patristic Thought (Brill, 1989).