Kautilya: The True Founder of Economics by Balbir Singh Sihag

Kautilya: The True Founder of Economics is a unique contribution to the subject of Kautilya’s Arthashastra (KA). Arthashastradiscusses at length governance, diplomacy, military science and political economy.1 However, never has such a strong case been presented for Kautilya’s inclusion in the economic community. Given the degree of quantitative sophistication that economic science has achieved in the 21st century, it is all the more difficult to introduce abstractions of Kautilyan thought within the modern economic framework. Yet Balbir Singh Sihag has taken up this challenge and he does not disappoint. Spread across five chapters and 21 sections, the book employs a unique economics-oriented approach to expound the Kautilyan school of thought on strategic, administrative and economic affairs.