This paper explores economic theories of Gerald Odonis (d. 1348) and John Buridan (d. ca. 1360), focusing on their views on economic value, money, and usury in their commentaries on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Both philosophers critically engage with Aristotle’s ideas, reshaping economic thought during a transformative era marked by intense socio-economic changes and crises. Odonis, influenced by Franciscan traditions, argues that money is a social construct established by legal and political authority. He defines value primarily in terms of human need and societal necessity, suggesting a dynamic, skill-based valuation of labour rather than value of intrinsic worth. On usury, Odonis shifts from a liberal attitude in his earlier works towards moral condemnation, highlighting its injustice and harmful social consequences.

Buridan further refines these ideas, emphasising the necessity of stable currency as essential to just economic exchange. He critiques arbitrary political interventions and advocates for currency grounded in precious metals to ensure economic stability. Addressing objections concerning economic value, Buridan argues that value is based on communal rather than personal need. Drawing from Aristotle and Seneca, he differentiates between necessary and apparent needs, highlighting that both the impoverished and wealthy experience poverty due to persistent desire. Ultimately, economic value, according to Buridan, is determined by apparent rather than necessary need. Futher, Buridan permits interest charges under genuine loss or risk-sharing conditions, reflecting a practical approach to late medieval economic morality.