Main characteristics of the development of economic thought in Lithuania (16th - 20th cc.)
ENThe establishment of the Political Economy Department at Vilnius University in 1803 is a fact worth attention. Moreover, to say that it was for the first time in world science history that political economy was recognized as an official subject in university’s study syllabus sounds today as a wonder. But every "wonder" has its cause. Nobody doubts that at that time economic thought was at a more advanced level in England or France, but some transformation process in the educational system of Vilnius University (it was reformed from Vilnius Academy, managed by Jesuits, to a more open educational institution) gave a good land for sowing new seeds. Most European universities still had the departments of cameral sciences for the studies of economic issues; the ideas of political economy mainly remained introduced in the course of moral philosophy. The establishment of the Department of Political Economy at Vilnius University meant the recognition of the earlier started course of the physiocracy. So, what are the reasons for such a high recognition of political economy in the educational system of Lithuania?.
