Kautilya: The True Founder of Economics

This book seeks to highlight the monumental contribution of Kautilya to economic thought. The Arthashastra explicitly promotes the goals of both artha (material wellbeing) and dharma (righteous behavior) as a consistent whole and repudiates any deviation from them. A serious attempt is made here to revise the currently accepted history of economic thought. It is claimed that presentation of Kautilya's original contributions should succeed in dispelling the deepseated myth that economics originated during the eighteenth century and Adam Smith was the founder of economics. A claim is only as good as the arguments it stands on. For the first time, strong arguments are provided by the author as to why Kautilya should be considered as the founder of economics in the fourth century BCE. It is also argued that Kautilya's The Arthashastra may be correctly designated as Dharmanomics: economics built on an ethical foundation, projecting economics and economic policy in a more meaningful and socially desirable perspective. The book also shows that the Hindu civilization is not averse to economic growth.