General description
''Arbitrismo'' developed mainly in Castile during the second half of the sixteenth century and the seventeenth century. It is related intellectually to theThe ''arbitristas'' ... of the early seventeenth century all put forward programmes of reform. Royal expenditure must be regulated, the sale of office halted, the growth of the church checked. The tax system must be overhauled, special concessions be made to agricultural laborers, rivers be made navigable and dry lands irrigated. In this way alone could Castile's productivity increased, its commerce restored, and its humiliating dependence on foreigners, on the Dutch and the Genoese, be brought to an end.''Arbitristas'' put faith in empiricism, so that they gathered information about an identified problem and then sought the solution. Some ''arbitristas'' argued that the large quantities of silver and gold arriving from the mines in Spain's American colonies was doing great damage to the Spanish economy. The Spanish ''
Notable ''arbitristas''
Tomás de Mercado
Luis Ortiz
Luis Ortiz was active during the second half of the sixteenth century and accountant of the Treasury of Castile during the reign of Philip II, wrote a memorial to the King so that no monies leave Spain, after the bankruptcy of the Austrias. This was the first text of the Spanish mercantilists, in which he considers that the decline in prices lies in the conservation of gold in Castile and, for this purpose, he creates a plan with which he intends to promote resources. The memorial was published in 1558 and did not have much impact, despite to its illuminating analysis of the economic crisis of the kingdom. Among the main measures proposed was the withdrawal of all types of leisure, the introduction of work and the creation of manufactured products instead of only exporting raw materials, as well as the abolition of existing customs between the various Hispanic kingdoms, the disentailment of church property and a tax reform. He analyzed the monetary problems of Spain and studied solutions to solve the situations created in the country because of the tendency to export raw materials and import manufactures paid with the gold from the Indies. He intuited the concept of economic structure and consistently proposed not one, but a wide range of initiatives that could have brought the kingdom out of the morass it was in, such as increasing productivity, promoting population growth, extending irrigation and starting a repopulation forest. Moreover, he was aware of the problem arising from the remittances of gold and silver that came from the Indies and proposed restricting monetary expansion and discouraging consumption.Martín González de Cellorigo
Martín González de Cellorigo, born in Pancorbo (Burgos) in 1559 and died around 1633, was active during the first half of the seventeenth century. He studied at the University of Valladolid and was a lawyer of the Royal Chancery there. He continued the ideas of the School of Salamanca and directed two memorials to the futureSancho Moncada
Sancho Moncada, also in the seventeenth century, can be considered equally linked to the School of Salamanca. In 1619 he wrote some Discourses that would later be reissued in 1746 as the ''Political Restoration of Spain''. He delves into the quantitative theory of money and represents the most complete Spanish model of mercantilism. He pointed out the weaknesses of the Spanish economy and especially the penury and the invasion of foreign products, and denounced that the kingdom had become a debtor of the enemy powers. His solution was to propose a severe protectionism of mercantile discipline supervised by the Inquisition. In addition, it was necessary to promote the industry asPedro Fernández de Navarrete
The Riojan Pedro Fernández de Navarrete (1564 - 1632), canon of Santiago, Seneca translator humanist and royal adviser, was inspired by Cellorigo and Moncada to write his ''Conservation of Monarchies'', a work of mercantilist bias that advocated the control of imports and the promotion of exports, although it did not fall into the trap ofLuis Valle de la Cerda
Luis Valle de la Cerda wrote in 1600 ''Performance of the Patrímonto of His Majesty and of the kingdoms, without damage of the King and vassals, and with rest and relief of all, through the public Treasury and Montes de Piedad''. His work was highly valued by the Cortes, which supported this initiative, and reissued it in 1618. The Montes de Piedad was an idea in a way similar to the Granados that already worked, as credit entities of municipal foundation and grain stores that lent to the farmers. The foundation of the first Monte de Piedad was made in Madrid by Father Piquer in the early eighteenth century, and in the mid-nineteenth century was associated with the Savings Bank (founded by the Marquis of Pontejos). These financial institutions already correspond to a protocapitalist world, in which other important institutions also functioned, such as the Five Greater Guilds of Madrid or the Bank of San Carlos, antecedent of the Bank of Spain.Juan de Castro
Juan de Castro was a priest with ties to the Genoese banking community. His critique of the economy focused on the lack of data to understand the most basic aspects of the overseas trade. These included the lack of knowledge of demand for goods, the proportion of foreign goods to domestic sent to the Indies, and comparative prices of goods in European markets. Spanish merchants functioned without knowledge of matters in which European merchants were experts. He also commented on the socioeconomic patterns of foreign merchants, whose sons married Spanish women and their sons could operate legally within the restrictive Spanish system, but the most promising of these young men were sent to Genoa to learn the real mechanics of international trade. These foreign enterprises with insider status were a part of extended family enterprises, so that they could operate on a truly international scale. “They were well positioned to exploit colonial markets to the disadvantage of their under-capitalized and poorly informed Spanish competitors whose capital averaged nly20,000 pesos.” Foreign merchants did not want to completely undermine the structure of trade, so made loans to Spanish merchant firms to keep them participating in the trade.Other writers
References
Further reading
*Bronner, Fred. "Peruvian ''Arbitristas'' Under Viceroy Chinchón". ''Scripta Hierosolymitana'' 26(1974): 34-77. *Elliott, J.H. "The Decline of Spain" in ''Spain and Its World, 1500-1700''. New Haven: Yale University Press 1989, *Stein, Stanley and Barbara H. Stein, ''Silver, Trade, and War: Spain and America in the Making of Early Modern Europe''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press 2000. 17th-century economic history Spanish language 17th century in Spain Economic history of Spain