Arbitrism

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Under arbitrista are economic theories and recommendations understood a number of authors in the 16th and 17th centuries, especially in Castile were distributed in pamphlets and treatises, especially after the 1600th

Bulk

More than 165 such memoranda are known from the period from 1598 to 1665. They go back in part to the economic theories that were developed by theologians of the " School of Salamanca " from the 1530s . Arbitrism is considered to be the forerunner of French and English mercantilism of the 18th century and, with the "School of Salamanca", one of the earliest scientific debates on economics. The centers of arbitristic teaching were the university cities of Salamanca , Valladolid and Toledo . Its most important representatives were Pedro Fernández de Navarrete , Martín González de Cellorigo , Luis Ortiz (published 1558), Sancho Moncada , Tomás de Mercado (published 1569), Antonio Serra and Luis Valle de la Cerda .

The name comes from the name for the sovereign freedom of decision of the king, the arbitrio, to which the memoranda (Arbitrios) are directed. The term “Arbitristos” was first mentioned by Cervantes in 1613, but was already used by Francisco de Quevedo in a derogatory, derisive sense, and the term “Arbitrista” in Spanish still has the meaning of a project maker who is unrealistic.

The background to the efforts of the arbitrists was the economic decline of Spain (especially Castile). In the 16th century, the import of precious metals from the American colonies caused rampant inflation in motherland Spain, and King Philip II (reigned 1556–1598) raised more and more taxes to finance his many wars, but above all Castile charged. At the same time, the economy was dominated by foreign merchants who brought grain and manufactured goods into the country in exchange for the coveted Spanish silver currency. The economy in Spain itself benefited little from the flow of money, which mostly went straight abroad, but was crushed by rising taxes. In 1596, Spain was even forced to declare national bankruptcy, and the twelve-year ceasefire in the Netherlands from 1609 was also mainly due to the exhaustion of state finances. The prices remained relatively stable in the period from 1600 to around 1620, but afterwards an increase (or, due to the countermeasures taken, a strong fluctuation) in prices set in again.

The recommendations and views of the arbitristas are not uniform, but what they have in common is a concern about the decline of Castile, which is also attributed to demographic reasons (population decline). They recommend promoting agriculture in Spain through irrigation projects, promoting immigration and thus repopulating abandoned areas, expanding waterways, building factories in Spain itself and reducing the influence of foreign merchants (protectionism). In addition, they are in favor of a tax reform, whereby, like later the Physiocrats , they want to reduce the tax to a single basis, namely land ownership (de Cellorigo 1600, de Ceballos 1621). In particular, however, they also want other parts of the kingdom outside Castile to participate more in the tax burden. The spending of the royal household was to be cut and the sale of offices and honors ceased. Philip II had filled his coffers from such a sale and from a deterioration in money - as an alternative to an even more drastic increase in taxes.

The arbitrists' influence on the Spanish crown was limited. The reform plans of the minister of Philip IV (Spain) (reign 1621–1665) Olivares in the period around 1624 are attributed to their influence. In the library of Olivares there were only three arbitrista pamphlets, but one was by Jeronimo de Ceballos (from 1621, published 1623), in which he recommended the introduction of a national banking system, which should make the collection of taxes cheaper and through that too the king's warfare and the navy should be financed. Olivares took up some of these ideas, but a real reform did not come about until the 18th century.

Arbitrists like Sancho Moncada (1619) saw economics as a science. In this they followed the School of Salamanca (founded by Francisco de Vittorio in 1536), which developed a theory of prices and money based on supply and demand in the 16th century and thus the causes of the " price revolution " of the 16th century - precious metal exports the colonies - named. Friedrich Hayek , whose student Grice-Hutchinson researched the history of the school, led these early mercantilist theories in Spain to the bon mot that it was not the Calvinists (according to Max Weber ) who founded capitalism, but the Jesuits in Spain.

Some writings from the arbitrists

  • Luis Ortiz Memorial al Rey para que no salgan dineros de España , 1558
  • Tomás de Mercado Suma de tratos y contratos , 1569
  • Luis Valle de la Cerda Desempeño del patrímonto de Su Majestad y de los reinos, sin daño del Rey y vasallos, y con descanso y alivio de todos, por medio de los Erarios públicos y Montes de Piedad , 1600
  • Martin González de Cellorigo Memorial de la política necesaria y útil restauración de España y estados de ella, y desempeño universal de estos reinos , 1600
  • Antonio Serra Breve trattato delle cause che possono far abbondare li regni d'oro e d'argento dove non sono miniere , 1613
  • Sancho Moncada Discursos , 1619, new as Restauración política de España , 1746
  • Pedro Fernández de Navarrete Conservación de las monarquías y discursos políticos , 1626

literature

  • Richard Bonney: Early modern theories of state finance. In: Richard Bonney (Ed.): Economic systems and state finance. Clarendon Press, Oxford et al. 1995, ISBN 0-19-820545-7 , pp. 163-230 ( The origins of the modern state in Europe. B).
  • Antonio Domínguez Ortiz : El siglo XVII español. El trasmundo del arbitrismo. In: Enrique Fuentes Quintana (ed.): Economía y economistas españoles. Volume 2: De los orígenes al mercantilismo. Galaxia Gutenberg et al., Barcelona 1999, ISBN 84-8109-194-4 , pp. 403-424.
  • John Huxtable Elliott : Imperial Spain. 1469-1716. Arnold, London 1963 (Reprinted with revised foreword and notes on further reading. Penguin, London et al. 2002, ISBN 0-14-100703-6 ( Penguin History )).
  • John Huxtable Elliott: Spain and its world, 1500-1700. Selected essays. Yale University Press, New Haven CT et al. 1989, ISBN 0-300-04217-5 .
  • Francisco Gómez Camacho: El pensamiento económico en la Escuela de Salamanca. In: Enrique Fuentes Quintana (ed.): Economía y economistas españoles. Volume 2: De los orígenes al mercantilismo. Galaxia Gutenberg et al., Barcelona 1999, ISBN 84-8109-194-4 , pp. 37-74.
  • Marjorie Grice-Hutchinson: Early Economic Thought in Spain. 1177-1740. Allen and Unwin, London et al. 1978, ISBN 0-04-946011-0 .

Web links

Notes and references

  1. ^ A b Bonney “Early modern theories of state finance”, in Richard Bonney (ed.) “Economic systems and state finance”, Oxford University Press 1995
  2. ↑ Louis Baeck. "Spanish Economic Thought: The School of Salamanca and Arbitristas," History of Political Economy, Vol. 20, 1988, pp. 381-408.
  3. ^ Roger Llopis-Fuentes: El personaje del arbitrista según Cervantes y Quevedo, Cincinnati Romance Review, Vol. 10, 1991, pp. 111-122
  4. ^ Spanish Dictionary, Real Academia Espanola
  5. ↑ The famous "Real de a ocho", which developed into a world currency in the course of the 16th century, with which European merchants, even from the Far East, paid for goods
  6. ↑ The connection between the lack of money supply in the domestic market and rising taxes was clearly identified by arbitrists such as de Cellorigo 1600
  7. ↑ J.Cooper (Editor) "The New Cambridge Modern History", Vol. 4 (The Decline of Spain and the Thirty Years War), 1970, p 444
  8. ↑ In 1599 the Véllon was made on a pure copper basis and the copper for it was imported from Sweden via the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. It has also been re-struck several times. The foreign merchants, especially the Dutch, also contributed to inflation by circulating counterfeit vellons.