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 [next page is the inside of front cover] © 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. 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Malliaris Co-Editor for Asia: Bala Batavia Secretary and Executive Director Co-Editor for Europe: Leo Michelis George Bitros Treasurer Members Constantine Angyridis Volbert Alexander Sven W. Arndt Managing Editor of The Journal Ross Catterall Of Economic Asymmetries and Evrard Claessens Vice President George D. Demopoulos Leo Michelis Alicia Giron John Kaminarides Vice Presidents George Kaufman George E. Eaton Andreas A. Kintis Alexander J. Kondonassis Nicholas A. Lash Sima Motamen- Vice President Samadian (European Affairs) Jozef Pacolet Nicholas C. Baltas Mike Pournarakis Ingrid Rima Directors George M. von Furstenberg Peter E. Koveos John Smithin Brenda Spotton Visano Production Manager of the Journal of Economic Asymmetries and Webmaster: Mary Malliaris [page above is inside of back cover] “Our constitution…is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the greatest number.” Thucydides II, 37 "We Athenians, in our own persons, take our decisions on policy or submit them to proper discussions: for we do not think that there is an incompatibility between words and deeds; the worst thing is to rush into action before the consequences have been properly debated.” Thucydides II, 40 (Thucydides (460-400 B.C.) Pericles’ Funeral Oration) The Athenian Policy Forum is a non-profit scholarly organization which promotes conferences and other scholarly activities on the broad themes of economic integration, globalization and structural change. Two main principles have guided the discussion all along: Firstly, from the start there has been an emphasis on the concerns of relatively smaller national players caught up in the globalization process. Hence, the emphasis on “asymmetries” and “unequal development”. Secondly, there has been a serious commitment to an open debate, reflecting as many different shades of political and economic opinion as possible. Inspired by the ancient Greek and Athenian tradition of thoroughly and properly debating important issues in public with clarity, and without obfuscation, the Athenian Policy Forum is aspiring to meet that standard. In pursuing its objectives internationally, the Athenian Policy Forum promotes conferences, commissioned studies, symposia, invited presentations, occasional papers and its own journal, The Journal of Economic Asymmetries The Athenian Policy Forum was founded in 1989 and was awarded tax-exempt status in 1995 (No. 1040427-21) under the income tax act. SPONSORS: The present volume was published with the aid of a grant from the Costas Kyriazis International Center for Human Values And the following other sponsors: The Bank of Greece Kiebach Center for International Business Studies at Syracuse University Indiana University Jean Monnet Center of Excellence at the Athens University of Economics and Business Loyola University Chicago University of Oklahoma York University Athenian Policy Forum*777 Bay Street, PO Box 46024, Toronto Canada M5G2P6 *www.apforum.org Spine Text (not to scale) The Journal of Economic Asymmetries June 2011 Volume 8 Number 1 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