07. Spanish Economic Thought

The following paragraph discusses the growing interest in early Spanish economic thought. This was shaped by Spanish scholasticism, Spain’s historical pursuit of precious metals after finding a new world by Christopher Columbus in 1492.

At that time gold and silver flowed into Spain from Mexico and Central and South America. Then prices in the nation began to rise. As a result, Spanish scholars were thinking implications of these changes. During that period, economic matters were examined using a religious lens, and economic activities were matched with spiritual values like justice and fairness. This can be referred to as Spanish scholasticism.

There were three Spanish thinkers. They are Martin de Azpilcueta, Louis de Molina, and Count Campomanes.

Martin de Azpilcue

In 1556 Azpilcueta exhibited a valuable understanding of the quantity theory of money. That idea showed that changes in the general price level are influenced by the amount of money in circulation. He observed that the scarcity of money led to lower prices while the abundance of money led to higher prices in the economy.

Louise de Molina

Louis de Molina stressed the moral aspect of the economy. According to him, one should understand how markets function before making ethical judgments about the market. This led to deep analysis of market mechanisms including the law of demand and supply and quantity theory of money.

Count Campomanes

Count Campomanes emphasized great freedom in international trade and economic measures. He believed that too much gold and silver from America coming into Spain was making things more expensive. It was a barrier to the country’s economy. He wanted to reduce the government rules and establish an economy where businesses have the freedom to operate their business activities.

In summary, this paragraph describes how people are becoming more interested in old Spanish ideas about money and trade. It happened because the Spanish used to look for valuable metals, like gold and silver, a long time ago. They had some smart people who thought a lot about how money works. This paragraph also tells us about the three important Spanish thinkers and what they said about money and economics.

 

Written by Tharindu Dilan

References

Mercantilism, Physiocracy, And Other Precursors Of Classical Economic Though