ABSTRACT
The primary purpose of this chapter is to conduct a brief historical analysis of the evolution of economics in general, and capitalism in particular, in an attempt to identify the point at which economics lost its grounding in moral philosophy and social ontology. After Constantine’s nationalization of the Church it gained great authority and influence socially, politically, and economically. In response to what he perceived to be the growing excesses of the Catholic Church, both in terms of immoral economic practices and theological obscuration, Martin Luther posted his 95 complaints against the Church and launched the reformation of protest; known today as the Protestant Reformation. During the mid-eighteenth century the American Colonies were flooded with British Redcoats who came to defend the northern frontier in the French and Indian War. With the publication of Alfred Marshall’s Principles of Economics toward the end of the Industrial Revolution, the field of economic analysis transitioned into the Neoclassical period.
