Global Economic Intersection
Advertisement
  • Home
    • 카지노사이트
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Politics
  • Investments
    • Invest in Amazon $250
  • Cryptocurrency
    • Best Bitcoin Accounts
    • Bitcoin Robot
      • Quantum AI
      • Bitcoin Era
      • Bitcoin Aussie System
      • Bitcoin Profit
      • Bitcoin Code
      • eKrona Cryptocurrency
      • Bitcoin Up
      • Bitcoin Prime
      • Yuan Pay Group
      • Immediate Profit
      • BitQH
      • Bitcoin Loophole
      • Crypto Boom
      • Bitcoin Treasure
      • Bitcoin Lucro
      • Bitcoin System
      • Oil Profit
      • The News Spy
      • Bitcoin Buyer
      • Bitcoin Inform
      • Immediate Edge
      • Bitcoin Evolution
      • Cryptohopper
      • Ethereum Trader
      • BitQL
      • Quantum Code
      • Bitcoin Revolution
      • British Trade Platform
      • British Bitcoin Profit
    • Bitcoin Reddit
    • Celebrities
      • Dr. Chris Brown Bitcoin
      • Teeka Tiwari Bitcoin
      • Russell Brand Bitcoin
      • Holly Willoughby Bitcoin
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
    • 카지노사이트
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Politics
  • Investments
    • Invest in Amazon $250
  • Cryptocurrency
    • Best Bitcoin Accounts
    • Bitcoin Robot
      • Quantum AI
      • Bitcoin Era
      • Bitcoin Aussie System
      • Bitcoin Profit
      • Bitcoin Code
      • eKrona Cryptocurrency
      • Bitcoin Up
      • Bitcoin Prime
      • Yuan Pay Group
      • Immediate Profit
      • BitQH
      • Bitcoin Loophole
      • Crypto Boom
      • Bitcoin Treasure
      • Bitcoin Lucro
      • Bitcoin System
      • Oil Profit
      • The News Spy
      • Bitcoin Buyer
      • Bitcoin Inform
      • Immediate Edge
      • Bitcoin Evolution
      • Cryptohopper
      • Ethereum Trader
      • BitQL
      • Quantum Code
      • Bitcoin Revolution
      • British Trade Platform
      • British Bitcoin Profit
    • Bitcoin Reddit
    • Celebrities
      • Dr. Chris Brown Bitcoin
      • Teeka Tiwari Bitcoin
      • Russell Brand Bitcoin
      • Holly Willoughby Bitcoin
No Result
View All Result
Global Economic Intersection
No Result
View All Result

The French Revolution – An Economic Interpretation

admin by admin
June 5, 2014
in Uncategorized
0
0
SHARES
23
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Book Review

by Dirk Ehnts, Econoblog101

Florin Aftalion published an account of the financial and fiscal problems before, during and after the French Revolution in 1987 (1990). Apparently, in the 1780s the French people were fed up with the way that taxes were collected and also with the way that government spent. There was some knowledge about what was later termed the quantity theory of money, thus linking price level and quantity of money (p. 44):

His [Jean Bodin] view was that the purchasing power of coin ought to be in inverse proportion to the quantity of gold and silver in existence in a given country. This idea, which had originally been a controversial one, was universally accepted a century later. The writings of David Hume, who was well-known and much respected by French philosophes, established its credibility once and for all.

Aftalion then proceeds to mention the fiscal experiments of John Law. who created a paper currency scheme in France in the early 18th century which ended in disaster:

However, correlation is not causation. Aftalion seems to have been a neoclassical writer, and although I disagree with his views his book contains some passages which are very interesting from a modern perspective. There is a nice discussion on money and taxes on page 59:

In the meantime, the Assembly was discussing an article of the Constitution which stipulated that ‘no tax, in kind or in money, can be levied; no loan whether manifest or disguised can be raised without the express consent of the representatives of the nation.’ Everyone seemed in agreement regarding this point. Need one add, however, that this express consent ought also to apply to paper money? Mirabeau answered that it should indeed, considering the fact that the issue of paper money was at the same time a loan and a tax […]

This is an interesting thought. Paper money – issued by the government – is at the same time a loan and a tax. Here we enter into the fiscal realm, in which government can create tax liabilities in the private sector and thus force people to hold paper money issued by the government that they need for the payment of taxes. Since the paper money does not carry an interest rate and government does not repay taxes, the description is actually not quite right. However, the realisation that paper money has something to do with taxes is quite ingenious. On page 73 the topic resurfaces when a Martineau makes his opinion public:

[..] He informed them that ‘paper money, in times of despotism, is dangerous; it fosters corruption. But, in a nation which has been responsible for constituting itself, and which itself supervises the issue of banknotes, which determines the proportions and uses, this danger no longer exists.’

Here we are back at the idea of a sovereign paper currency, which today is quite standard. The ideas of the thinkers in the 18th century evolved along these lines and on page 74 Aftalion quotes Cazalés:

Credit depends upon the foundations of government, upon the liquidation of debt and upon the collection of the taxes. So long as the people is armed from one end of the kingdom to the other, so long as you have not granted the executive all of the powers that it requires, you will never be able to guarantee the collection of taxes.

What happens to the taxes is provided through an account in which tax income in assignats (paper money) is destroyed by burning it, thus reducing the amount of money in circulation (p. 95). At some point, another type of money, billets de confiance, were accepted for tax payments but in February 1792 the tax-collectors refused to accept it, which triggered a crisis.

It seems that one lesson from the french Revolution should be to get your fiscal house in order. It was difficult at the time, because the mob was in the street demanding the abolishment of taxes. After achieving that, there was no way to set up a currency that ‘worked’. Fiscal spending requires a proper money, which means that some taxation must be executed to allow for government spending without driving prices sky-high. What came after the French Revolution was The Reign or Terror, and then, shortly after, Napoleon. Perhaps it is better to pay taxes, after all.

  • The French Revolution – An Economic Interpretation (Florin Aftalion, Cambridge University Press, 1990) Click on title to go to Amazon.com.



Previous Post

How Should States Respond to City Government Bankruptcy?

Next Post

The Money Valve II

Related Posts

Unlocking the Future: Google's Game-Changing Move to Advertise NFT Games Starting September 15th
Business

Unlocking the Future: Google’s Game-Changing Move to Advertise NFT Games Starting September 15th

by John Wanguba
September 8, 2023
Bitcoin Is Finally Trading Perfectly Like 'Digital Gold'
Economics

Bitcoin Is Finally Trading Perfectly Like ‘Digital Gold’

by John Wanguba
August 5, 2023
Can Worldcoin Overtake Bitcoin?
Economics

Can Worldcoin Overtake Bitcoin?

by John Wanguba
August 4, 2023
Bitcoin Is Steady Above $29,000 Awaiting US NFP Figures
Economics

Bitcoin Is Steady Above $29,000 Awaiting US NFP Figures

by John Wanguba
August 4, 2023
Namibia Will Regulate And Not Ban Crypto With New Law
Finance

Namibia Will Regulate And Not Ban Crypto With New Law

by John Wanguba
July 25, 2023
Next Post

The Money Valve II

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Browse by Category

  • Business
  • Econ Intersect News
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Politics
  • Uncategorized

Browse by Tags

adoption altcoins bank banking banks Binance Bitcoin Bitcoin market blockchain BTC BTC price business China crypto crypto adoption cryptocurrency crypto exchange crypto market crypto regulation decentralized finance DeFi Elon Musk ETH Ethereum Europe Federal Reserve finance FTX inflation investment market analysis Metaverse NFT nonfungible tokens oil market price analysis recession regulation Russia stock market technology Tesla the UK the US Twitter

Archives

  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • August 2010
  • August 2009

Categories

  • Business
  • Econ Intersect News
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Politics
  • Uncategorized
Global Economic Intersection

After nearly 11 years of 24/7/365 operation, Global Economic Intersection co-founders Steven Hansen and John Lounsbury are retiring. The new owner, a global media company in London, is in the process of completing the set-up of Global Economic Intersection files in their system and publishing platform. The official website ownership transfer took place on 24 August.

Categories

  • Business
  • Econ Intersect News
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Politics
  • Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • Unlocking the Future: Google’s Game-Changing Move to Advertise NFT Games Starting September 15th
  • Bitcoin Is Finally Trading Perfectly Like ‘Digital Gold’
  • Can Worldcoin Overtake Bitcoin?

© Copyright 2021 EconIntersect - Economic news, analysis and opinion.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • Bitcoin Robot
    • Bitcoin Profit
    • Bitcoin Code
    • Quantum AI
    • eKrona Cryptocurrency
    • Bitcoin Up
    • Bitcoin Prime
    • Yuan Pay Group
    • Immediate Profit
    • BitIQ
    • Bitcoin Loophole
    • Crypto Boom
    • Bitcoin Era
    • Bitcoin Treasure
    • Bitcoin Lucro
    • Bitcoin System
    • Oil Profit
    • The News Spy
    • British Bitcoin Profit
    • Bitcoin Trader
  • Bitcoin Reddit

© Copyright 2021 EconIntersect - Economic news, analysis and opinion.