Profile Major Works Resources

John Wheatley, 1772-1830.

British lawyer and early economist. One of the major partisans of the Bullionist position, in the early phases of the Bullionist debate. 

Wheatley's principal treatise, the Remarks, was published in 1803. His ideas were expanded in his later Essay (published in two volumes, the first in 1807, the second in 1822).

Wheatley articulated an early strict Quantity Theory of Money, Wheatley linked the the supply of money strictly to inflation and denied monetary expansion had any stimulative effects on industry.  Wheatley blamed the turn-of-the-century inflation on the excessive issue of banknotes by Bank of England. Wheatley is sometimes identified for developing the idea of an "optimum" quantity of money.  He is also credited for recognizing the international equalization of goods prices through trade and an early form of purchasing power parity theory.  Against Hume, Wheatley denied the automatic price-specie flow mechanism..

 

  

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Major Works of John Wheatley

  • Remarks on Currency and Commerce, 1803. [bk]
  • Thoughts on the object of a foreign subsidy, 1805 [bk]
  • Essay on the Theory of Money and Principles of Commerce, 1807 (vol. 1, av), 1822 (vol. 2, av) [copy]
  • A Letter to the Duke of Devonshire on the State of Ireland and the general effects of Colonization, 1824 [bk]
HET

 
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Resources on John Wheatley

  • "Art 18 - John Wheatley's Remarks on Currency and Commerce", by [Henry Brougham] 1803, Edinburgh Review (No. 5, Oct), p.231
  • "Art 3 - Wheatley on Money and Commerce", by Anon [no attrib], 1807, Edinburgh Review (No. 20, Jul) p.284
  • "Wh(e)atley, John"  in C. Coquelin and G.U. Guillaumin, editors, 1852, Dictionnaire de l'économie politique [1864 ed.]
  • "Wheatley, John"  in R.H. Inglis Palgrave, editor, 1894-1899, Dictionary of Political Economy [1918 ed.]
  • "LIfe and Writings of John Wheatley", by F.W. Fetter, 1942, JPE
  • John Wheatley online books page at U Penn

 

 
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