English statistician and economist Petty William: biography, economic views, theories, writings

Petty William (1623-1687 gg.) - English economist, scientist and philosopher. He became famous when he served Oliver Cromwell and the English Republic. The scientist has developed effective methods for surveying land destined for confiscation. After Cromwell he served under Charles II and James II. For several years he met in the English parliament. However, the economic views of William Petty are best known. It is he who is credited with upholding the laissez-faire principle in public policy.

William Petty: Biography

The future well-known economist of the Dosmitian era was born in the family of tailors. He grew up as an inquisitive and intelligent child and in 1637 he got a job as a cabin boy on a ship. However, he soon broke his leg and was landed in Normandy. After that, Petty William studied Latin and worked as an English teacher for the local population. Then he returned to England. By this time, the future economist was already well versed in Latin, Greek, French, mathematics and astronomy. After a short period of service in the Navy, he left for Holland, where he became interested in anatomy. In Amsterdam, William worked as a personal secretary to Hobbes, which enabled him to get to know Descartes, Gassendi and Mersenne.

In 1646 he returned to England and studied medicine at Oxford University. He managed to invent and patent his own copy machine, but it was not possible to arrange its sale. In 1652, he took leave and went to Ireland with the army of Cromwell. He sat in parliament, served under two kings. After 1660, his scientific interest shifted from the physical sciences to the social sciences. In 1667 he married Elizabeth Waller. The economist died in 1687 in London, where he returned from Ireland shortly before his death.

Economic Views

The theory of the scientist was influenced by two sources:

• Thomas Hobbes. William was his personal secretary for a while and managed to remember well the rational demands of "civil peace and material abundance." Therefore, most of his life he was looking for sources of prosperity for Ireland.
• Francis Bacon. The scientist agreed that mathematics and intuition should be the basis of all rational sciences. Therefore, in his scientific research he always sought to find quantitative indicators. So there was a so-called political arithmetic.

William Petty is often called the first real scientist-economist. The depth of his research placed him above Thomas Man, Josiah Child and John Locke. Petty's works preceded political economy. His most famous theories are connected with taxation, national wealth, money supply and speed of its circulation, value, interest rate, international trade and state investments. Petty was one of the first to oppose the views of mercantilists. He believed that the cost of any product should be based on the labor expended on its production. The national wealth of the country, in his opinion, is not only in gold and silver, and not only a lack of money, but also their surplus is harmful.

Taxes, statistics and accounting of national income

In Petty's time, the prevailing concept in England was mercantilism. England fought with Holland, and she needed money. Therefore, Petty was looking for the correct principles of taxation. They were supposed to help fill the coffers for war. Petty distinguished six spheres of levying. He believed that they should be regular and proportional. Petty advocated levying taxes in the form of not only precious metals, but also money. The same principle he used in calculating the national income. He believed that the wealth of the state consists not only in gold and silver, but also in money. According to his calculations, the national income of England in the 1660s was 667 million pounds.

In statistics, Petty used simple averages. However, in those days it was a great achievement. Virtually no one before him did not use quantitative indicators at all. The data of the population census, also of Ireland, was very difficult to obtain. Therefore, Petty came up with his own way of estimating the number of people. He believed that an increase in exports of 30% leads to a proportional increase in population, and one in thirty dies every year. So estimated the number of residents of London. In the whole country, according to Petty's assumption, there were eight times as many people. It should be noted that this method was criticized even during the lifetime of the scientist.

Theory of value and interest

Petty William continued the discussion started by Aristotle. He continued the theory of value, which was based on the resources spent on production. He distinguished two factors: land and labor. Both were the source of taxable income. Petty wanted to create an equation that would result in the right value of the benefits. An important component, he also considered the overall performance. Petty applied his theory of value to the calculation of rent charges. As for the interest rate, then in those days many still considered this profit taking as sinful. However, Petty did not agree with this interpretation. He introduces the notion of reward for refusing to use money from the borrower.

Governance based on the principle of non-interference

One of the important topics that Petty William raised in his works is the philosophy of laissez-faire in government. Here he relied on the medical principle of non-interference in the work of a healthy organism. He applied it to monopolies, to controlling the export of money, and to trade in goods. He believed that state regulation does more harm than good.

William Petty: Theories

During his life, the scientist addressed many areas of future economic science. In the works, one can find William Petty's views on taxes, the calculation of national income, statistics, the supply of money and the speed of their circulation, the theory of value and interest, public administration, currency and trade, full employment, division of labor and many other topics. His theories influenced the views of many well-known economists. In a sense, his followers were such great minds as Adam Smith, Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes. Extremely broad areas of interest have helped Petty for a long time to remain relevant.

Works and heritage

William Petty is the founder and member of the Royal Society. Most of all, he is known for his work on economic history and statistics. The founder of modern census techniques is William Petty. The works of the scientist include such works:

• "Treatise on taxes and fees" (1662).
• "Political arithmetic" (1676).
• Verbum Sapienti (1664).
• "Political Anatomy of Ireland" (1672).
• "On the money" (1682).
• "An essay on the multiplication of mankind" (1682).