J.バートンの救貧法論
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概要
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John Barton's theory of machinery has been investigated, mostly with special attention to its motivating Ricardo to alter his perspective on how the introduction of machinery would affect workers. However, in order to capture characteristics of Barton's economic thought his position on the Poor Laws, as opposed to Ricardo's, also need to be investigated. This paper examines how Barton's position on the Poor Laws reflected his economic thought. Barton criticized Adam Smith's perspective that increasing national wealth would lead to higher real wages and thereby higher population growth. Then Barton rejected the argument that rapidly increasing population and declining real wage could be attributed to the Poor Laws. He argued that improved productivity in central and south American mining led to greater amount of precious metals in circulation and thereby declining real wages in Europe, resulting in increasing opportunities for employment and higher population growth. From this perspective Barton concluded that the Poor Laws contributed to improved living condition of working class. This paper shows that Barton's position on the Poor Laws was based on his own theory on the relationship among growth of national wealth, real wages, population, inflation and income distribution.
- 工学院大学の論文