4 h 14 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Why does one household thrive while another, with the same land, grows poor?
In The Economist, Xenophon brings philosophy into the household and the fields. Socrates asks the wealthy young Critobulus what wealth really means, and whether managing a household is a skill that can be learned. Money alone offers no easy answer: Critobulus faces costly public duties, guests and sacrifices. The question becomes how to use what you have well.
Socrates then recounts a conversation with Ischomachus, a gentleman farmer who explains how he runs his estate, teaches his wife and directs his workers. Order, farming, marriage and leadership become matters for close attention. Some advice still feels sharp; the views on women and slaves can trouble readers. This is practical philosophy rooted in the assumptions of its age.
What you’ll discover
- Wealth beyond money Follow Socrates as he asks whether possessions count as wealth without the skill to use them.
- The cost of status Meet Critobulus, whose money comes with demands that make a rich life costly.
- A place for everything Explore Ischomachus's claim that careful order makes the things you need easy to find.
- Leadership and shared work Consider household partnership and the habits through which a leader earns workers' loyalty.
- Philosophy in the fields Discover detailed farming advice alongside questions about skill, character and the purpose of work.
Who will love it
For readers curious about the roots of economics, management and everyday ethics, and anyone who enjoys Socratic talk about wealth, household order, leadership and farming.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Wealth is whatever you can use well
- Skill and character, not income, make you rich
- Copy a model who works with purpose
- Marriage is a partnership with shared work
- Good order saves time and good leaders earn loyalty
- Farming: an enduring model of skill and justice
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Der Hausverwalter
by Xenophon
Socrates asks what wealth really is, and why people with the same land grow rich or poor.
Easy read2–5 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Economist is the English title of a short Greek work by Xenophon, known in Greek as the Oikonomikos. Xenophon was an Athenian soldier and writer who knew Socrates as a young man.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Wealth is whatever you can use well
The dialogue opens with Socrates asking Critobulus whether household management is a kind of knowledge, like medicine or carpentry. They agree that it is. A good manager, says Socrates, knows how to increase an estate, and an estate is everything a person owns that is useful to him, even things outside his own city.
This leads to a surprising claim. Wealth is not a pile of objects. It is whatever a person can use to good effect. Socrates gives the example of a flute. In the hands of someone who cannot play, a flute is not wealth at all, and he would do better to sell it. The same goes for a horse, a field or a house. A thing becomes wealth only when its owner knows how to use it.
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What is The Economist by Xenophon about?
It is a Socratic dialogue about managing a household and estate. It asks what wealth is, how a person grows rich or poor, how to train a wife and workers, and why farming is a good way of life.
Why is it called the Oeconomicus?
The Greek title Oikonomikos comes from oikos, meaning house, and nomos, meaning rule or custom. It means the skill of household management. Our word economics grows from it, although the book is not about markets in the modern sense.
Who is Ischomachus in Xenophon's Economist?
Ischomachus is a wealthy Athenian landowner whom Socrates questions. He is presented as a model gentleman who runs his farm and family well, and he explains his methods of order, training and leadership.
The author
Xenophon
430 BC–353 BC · Ancient Greek historian and philosopher
Greek philosopher, historian, and soldier.
More by Xenophon
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