The Journal of Economic Asymmetries
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VOL. 8 NO. 1, 2011 THE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ASYMMETRIES Co-Editor for Europe: George C. Bitros Athens University of Economics and Business Papers presented at the International Conference on Economics, Politics and Ethics in the Light of the Intellectual Inheritance of Ancient Athens Delphi, Greece, September 13-14, 2010 George Bitros, Anastassios Karayiannis,and Nicholas Kyriazis: Introduction Articles Josiah Ober: Wealthy Hellas George Tridimas: Cleisthenes’ Choice: The Emergence of Direct Democracy in Ancient Athens Nicholas Kyriazis and Anastassios Karayiannis: Democracy, Institutional Changes and Economic Development: The Case of Ancient Athens Darel Tai Engen: Democracy, Knowledge, and the Hidden Economy of Athens Jürgen Backhaus: Some Remarks on Economic Policy Advice Cosimo Perrotta: Aristotle and the Modern Economy Bertram Schefold: The Applicability of Modern Economics to Forms of Capitalism in Antiquity: Some Theoretical Considerations and Textual Evidence Carl Hampus Lyttkens: Health, Economics and Ancient Greek Medicine George Bitros and Anastassios Karayiannis: Character, Knowledge and Skills in Ancient Greek Paideia: Some Lessons for Today’s Policy Makers Christopher Merrill: The Runner Author Biographies ISSN 1703-4949 © North Waterloo Academic Press 2011 THE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ASYMMETRIES The JEA has, as its major objective, to publish scholarly articles, including those on economic, financial, technological and legal asymmetries in an increasingly globalized world. The JEA welcomes submissions of manuscripts in keeping with the broad JEA theme identified above. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF FOUNDING EDITOR A. G. Malliaris, Christos C. Paraskevopoulos, deceased Loyola University Chicago CO-EDITOR FOR THE AMERICAS Leo Michelis, Ryerson University CO-EDITOR FOR EUROPE George C. Bitros Athens University of Economics & Business CO-EDITOR FOR ASIA Bala Batavia DePaul University MANAGING EDITOR PRODUCTION EDITOR Leo Michelis Mary Malliaris Ryerson University Loyola University Chicago EUROPEAN BOARD OF ASSOCIATE EDITORS Volbert Alexander, University of Giessen Bernd Kempa, University of Muenster Sven Arndt, Claremont Mckenna College Omar Licandro, European University Institute Juergen Backaus, Erfurt University Leo Michelis, Ryerson University Nicholas C. Baltas, Athens Univ. of Econ. & Bus. Robin Rowley, McGill University Evrard Claessens, University of Antwerp Apostolos Serletis, University of Calgary George M. Constantinides, University of Chicago George Tavlas, Bank of Greece George D. Demopoulos, Athens Univ. of Econ. & Riccardo Fiorito, University of Sienna GeorgeBus. M. von Furstenberg, Indiana University Peter E. Koveos, Syracuse University George G. Kaufman, Loyola University Brenda Spotton Visano, University of York SUBSCRIPTION POLICY Subscription Rates (annual): Individuals US $ 100.00; Institutions $ 200.00 Please submit fees payable to: Athenian Policy Forum, 777 Bay Street, Post Office Box 46024, Toronto, Ontario M5G2P6, Canada SUBMISSION POLICY For members the submission fee for the first paper each year is waived, for non- members, fees can be obtained from the appropriate co-editor. Submit manuscripts electronically [MS WORD] to the managing editor: [email protected]. or to the European Editor: [email protected] or the Asian editor: [email protected] The manuscripts must conform to the guidelines available at: www.apforum.org Submission of a paper will be held to imply that it contains original unpublished work and is not being submitted for publication elsewhere. Neither the editors nor the publisher take any responsibility for opinions or facts stated by contributors and for the manuscripts sent to them. Printed in Canada by North Waterloo Academic Press; 482 Lexington Crescent, Waterloo, Ontario N2K 2J8 webpage: www.nwap.on.ca; e- mail: [email protected]. Papers presented at the International Conference On Economics, Politics and Ethics in the Light of the Intellectual Inheritance of Ancient Athens Delphi, Greece, September 13-14, 2010 Introduction: Honoring the Battle of Marathon George Bitros, Anastassios Karayiannis,and Nicholas Kyriazis i Articles Josiah Ober Wealthy Hellas 1 George Tridimas Cleisthenes’ Choice: The Emergence of Direct Democracy in Ancient Athens 39 Nicholas Kyriazis and Anastassios Karayiannis Democracy, Institutional Changes and Economic Development: The Case of Ancient Athens 61 Darel Tai Engen Democracy, Knowledge, and the Hidden Economy of Athens 93 Jürgen Backhaus Some Remarks on Economic Policy Advice 107 Cosimo Perrotta Aristotle and the Modern Economy 115 Bertram Schefold The Applicability of Modern Economics to Forms of Capitalism in Antiquity: Some Theoretical Considerations and Textual Evidence 131 Carl Hampus Lyttkens Health, Economics and Ancient Greek Medicine 165 George Bitros and Anastassios Karayiannis Character, Knowledge and Skills in Ancient Greek Paideia: Some Lessons for Today’s Policy Makers 193 Christopher Merrill The Runner 221 Author Biographies 229 Introduction: Honoring the Battle of Marathon George C. Bitros1 Athens University of Economics and Business Anastassios D. Karayiannis2 University of Piraeus Nicholas K. Kyriazis3 University of Thessaly 1. Introduction In September 2010 we celebrated the 2500 anniversary of the battle of Marathon. When referring to Marathon, the mind of most people around the world goes to the Marathon Run, an Olympic athletic contest, as well as a very popular athletic event worldwide, since about 800 cities organize Marathon Runs. People know much less about the battle itself and its true significance, which has been acclaimed by such 19th century writers as Hegel, who declared that “The interests of the world’s history hung themselves in the balance,” and J. S. Mill who stressed that “The battle of Ma- rathon, even as an event in English history is more important than the battle of Hast- ings”. No doubt then, when the Athenians and their allies confronted Persians in the battle of Marathon, there was very much at stake. It was the way of living partic- ularly in Athens, which gave rise to the miracle of democracy and the far-reaching advances in the sciences of man and nature. Even though we cannot say how western civilization would have evolved had that battle been lost, we can definitely agree that we would have been much poorer today. The road to democracy and its eternal val- ues would have come to an abrupt stop. The great Greek philosophers would have been silenced to the tremendous loss of later generations; and the marvelous monu- ments and the works of art that we so admire today in the new Acropolis museum and the museums around the world would not have been realized. So in the eve of 2500 years from that battle we thought that it was very fit- ting to take stock of the intellectual accomplishments that the victory of Greeks made possible and draw lessons for today. Because, despite the centuries that separate us, the problems democracies face presently in the world are not much different. Now as i ii THE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ASYMMETRIES JUNE 2011 then, there are international fundamentalisms (cultural, religious, economic, etc.). Now as then, group interests and lack of social cohesion are blotting democracies; and now as then, individual values and liberties are under attack. Hence, instead of turning to the stars for clues as to what lies ahead, what our conference aspired to accomplish was to look back at the knowledge and experience we inherited from ancient Greece in search of insights as to the proper balance among ethics, politics and economics in confronting present day problem domestically and internationally. Thus, before embarking on the presentation of the papers that we selected for this special issue of the Journal of Economic Asymmetries, we considered it a good opportunity to give a brief account of the battle itself. This will reveal the tremendous odds Greeks faced and emphasize once more that what hangs in the balance in every democracy threatening problem lies not in the physical condi- tions that shape it, but in the spirit and the convictions that drive its people to put their lives on the line in defense of their institutions, beliefs, and values. For, if ancient Greeks were not motivated by such superior ideals, in view of the odds against them, they would have surrendered. 2. A Brief Account of the Battle At the time the Persian Empire was mighty and expanding. It covered the region from today’s western Pakistan and India, to the Middle East, Egypt, and Asia Minor. Moreover, during king Darius times it included European Thrace, parts of today’s Bulgaria and Macedonia, Greek city-states in Asia Minor like Miletus and Ephesos, and Greek islands like Samos, Chios and Lesbos. Persians realized that the Greek city-states under their control would never be secure as long as independent city- states existed on the Greek mainland. Thus, almost by necessity they had to subdue them as well. The Persian invasions of 492-479 BC were a clash of civilizations and cul- tures. Persians were no barbarians in today’s sense of the word. They had a widely admired civilization, a strong centrally organized and controlled state, and a mo- notheistic religion. The Persian King of Kings was the representative of the good god Ahura Mazda on earth and had to provide law and order. Politically people in the Persian Empire were subjects, whereas Greeks were citizens, even in oligarchic states. The first encounter took place in September 490 BC in the small plain of Marathon, in the northern part of Attica. Since the Greek