Jacob Neusner's The Economics of the Mishnah describes the economic content of the Mishnah and assesses whether this holy book of Judaism squares 'with the rationality of economics as presently understood'. This paper offers a summary of Neusner's book and a commentary on his analysis. The paper generally concurs with Neusner's conclusion that the Mishnaic system is not an economic one, in the modern sense, but rather one of rules ordaining a steady-state society where no individual has unmet preferences and the social order matches the heavenly order of eternal stability.
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