Knowledge Tree
Charles Davenant
Also known as: Davenant
Facts (11)
Sources
Ottobah Cugoano on British Slavery, National Debt, and Speculative ... jmphil.org Jan 24, 2025 11 facts
perspectiveCharles Davenant compared global trade to war, arguing that both represent a 'fall from innocence' but are indispensable tools in a global economic system where other nations would otherwise gain an advantage.
claimCharles Davenant reported that revenue from excise and import duties on commodities such as beer, ale, wine, tobacco, and sugar declined significantly during wartime.
claimCharles Davenant first described the concept of gross domestic product in 1695, the same year the Bank of England was formed to broker national debt.
claimCharles Davenant admitted that the Atlantic slave trade was 'hurtful to Mankind' but did not attempt to compare the merits of an economy based on domestic production against one dependent on human trafficking.
quoteCharles Davenant wrote: "Perhaps Trade in General may have been hurtful to Mankind, because it has introduced Luxury and Avarice; and it might be better with us, if we still liv’d in the Innocence and plainness of our Fore-fathers. But the circumstance of Time, and the Posture other Nations are in, may make things absolutely necessary, which are not good in their own Nature. War is the occasion of Cruelty, Wickedness, and Injustice, yet an unwarlike Nation can enjoy no safety."
claimPamphleteers such as Davenant and Eglinton raised concerns about the national debt that were not addressed by the metaphors used by proponents of the debt.
claimCharles Davenant observed that the creation of public debt led to increased taxation on landowners, which resulted in public suspicion and ill-will toward the government.
claimCharles Davenant, a secular economic theorist, questioned the decisions that led to the financialization of the British Treasury despite the economic stressors caused by the ongoing war with France.
claimRevenue from beer and ale duties in England dropped by 30% between 1688 and 1693, which Charles Davenant attributes to brewers leaving production for more profitable commerce.
referenceIn 'An Essay on the Ways and Means of Supplying the War', Charles Davenant argues that war debts should be managed through a combination of small land taxes, excise duties, import duties, and assizes to prevent price gouging.
claimCharles Davenant proposed that excise duties, used in conjunction with responsive assizes, could normalize prices during periods of agricultural overproduction by extracting excess profits from farmers to pay down war debts.