Thomas Tooke
Thomas Tooke | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 26 February 1858 London, England | (aged 83)
Nationality | English |
Academic career | |
Field | Econometrics |
School or tradition | Classical economics |
Thomas Tooke (/tʊk/; 28 February 1774 – 26 February 1858) was an English economist known for writing on money and economic statistics. After Tooke's death the Statistical Society endowed the Tooke Chair of economics at King's College London, and a Tooke Prize.
In business, he served several terms between 1840 and 1852 as governor of the
Life
Born at
He took no serious part in discussion of economic questions until 1819, when he gave evidence before committees of both Houses of Parliament on the resumption of cash payments by the
It was to support the principles of the merchants' petition that Tooke, with
Out of controversy over
Besides giving evidence on economic questions before several parliamentary committees, such as those of 1821 on agricultural depression and on foreign trade, of 1832, 1840, and 1848 on the Bank Acts, Tooke was a member of the factories inquiry commission of 1833. He retired from active business on his own account in 1836, but was governor of the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation from 1840 to 1852, and was also chairman of the St. Katharine's Dock Company. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in March 1821, and membre correspondant de l'Institut de France (Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques) in February 1853. He resided in London at 12 Russell Square, then later in Richmond Terrace, and at 31 Spring Gardens, where he died on 26 February 1858.[4] He is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery.[5]
In the year after Tooke's death the Tooke professorship of economic science and statistics at King's College, London, was founded in his memory, the endowment being raised by public subscription. There was a watercolour sketch of Tooke in the office of the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation, and a portrait was painted by
Works
As a follower of Ricardo,
The History of Prices
Tooke is best known for his A History of Prices and of the State of the Circulation during the Years 1793–1856 (6 vols., 1838–1857). In the first four volumes he treats (a) of the prices of corn, and the circumstances affecting prices; (b) the prices of produce other than corn; and (c) the state of the circulation. The two final volumes, written with William Newmarch, deal with railways, free trade, banking in Europe and the effects of new discoveries of gold.[6]
The first two volumes dealt with the period from 1793 to 1837, and were published in 1838. His conclusions were that the high prices which, speaking generally, ruled between 1793 and 1814 were due to a relatively large number of unfavourable seasons, coupled with the obstructions to trade which were created by the Napoleonic Wars; while the lower range of prices in the subsequent years was attributable to a series of more prolific seasons, the removal of the state of war, and improvement in the processes of manufacture and industry.[3]
A History of Prices was completed in six volumes; the third, dealing with the years 1838–9, was published in 1840, the fourth in 1848, and the fifth and sixth in 1857, the year before Tooke's death. The whole work comprises an analysis of the financial and commercial history of the period which it covers. The later volumes record of the steps by which Tooke gradually severed himself from the supporters of the
The supporters of the 'currency theory,' whose principles were adopted by
Tooke, on the other hand, reinforced later on by John Fullarton and James Wilson, maintained that a paper currency which was readily convertible on demand must necessarily conform to the value of a purely metallic currency; that for this purpose no other regulation was required beyond ready convertibility; that under these conditions banks had no power of arbitrarily increasing their issues; and that the level of prices was not directly affected by such issues. Before the committee of 1832 Tooke stated that, according to his experience, a rise or fall of prices had invariably preceded, and could not therefore be caused by, an enlargement or contraction of the circulation.[4] This view, while inconsistent with the quantity theory of money, is consistent with the real bills doctrine. On this view, a fall in the value of the assets of a money-issuing bank would cause the value of the bank's notes to fall. The public would then require more notes to conduct business, and the bank would willingly issue those notes to customers who offered assets of adequate value in exchange. Thus the quantity of notes would increase after the price level had risen.[citation needed]
Family
He married, in 1802, Priscilla Combe, by whom he had three sons.
Bibliography
A History of Prices in six volumes:
- Thomas Tooke (1838). A History of Prices and of the State of Circulation. Vol. 1. Longman. ISBN 9780384609471.
- Thomas Tooke (1838). A History of Prices and of the State of Circulation. Vol. 2. Longman. ISBN 9780384609471.
- Thomas Tooke (1840). A History of Prices and of the State of Circulation. Vol. 3. Longman.
- Thomas Tooke (1848). A History of Prices and of the State of Circulation. Vol. 4. Longman.
- Thomas Tooke; William Newmarch (1857). A History of Prices, and of the State of the Circulation. Vol. 5. Longman, Brown, Green, and Roberts.
- Thomas Tooke (1857). A History of Prices and of the State of Circulation. Vol. 6. Longman.
Notes
- ^ John Francis (1862). History of the Bank of England: Its Times and Traditions, from 1694–1844. Office of the Banker's magazine.
- ^ John Francis (1851). A History of the English Railway.
- ^ a b c d Murray 1885–1900, p. 47.
- ^ a b c d e f g Murray 1885–1900, p. 48.
- ^ Paths of Glory. Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery. 1997. p. 99.
- ^ Chisholm 1911.
- ^ Murray 1885–1900, pp. 47–48.
References
Sources
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Murray, George Herbert (1899). "Tooke, Thomas". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 57. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 47–48.
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tooke, Thomas". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 14. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- Murray, G. H.; Arnon, Arie. "Tooke, Thomas (1774–1858)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/27546. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
Obituaries
- Obituary Notices of Fellows Deceased, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 1857–1859 vol 9 pp 550–551
- Thos Tooke F.R.S. Journal of the Statistical Society of London, Vol. 21, No. 2 (Jun. 1858), pp. 198–201. Reprints the obituary in the Economist and describes the plans for a Tooke memorial.
External links
- "Thomas Tooke". JSTOR.
- An Inquiry into the Currency Principle, from Archive for the History of Economic Thought
The National Portrait Gallery has two pictures of Tooke
There is information on the Tooke chair and the distinguished economists who have held it in