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John Pollexfen, c.1638-1715
English Mercantilist, who flourished in the 1690s (exact dates of birth and death are uncertain).
John Pollexfen had embarked on a career as a merchant, making his fortune in the important of wine from Portugal. His borther, Henry Pollexfen, was a notably jurist and defender of Whig causes. John Pollexfen had sat on the Committee on Trade and Plantations in 1675. He was elected to parliament in 1679, and held his seat in subsequent elections, until 1702.
John Pollexfen was appointed to the Board of Trade between 1696 to 1705. Although it seems Pollexfen was the domineering figure on the board, John Locke among his colleagues and many of their arguments resemble each other, to the point where it is unclear who was influencing whom. In 1696, at the height of the English currency crisis, Pollexfen wrote a small tract on coinage for private circulation, that was subsequently published (1697) without his consent (an authorized version eventually was printed in 1700). Pollexfen identified paper credit as the cause of problems in England's balance of trade and that had led to the scarcity of bullion.
Pollexfen was also an avid opponent of the East India Company, and strongly urged the repeal of its privileges. In 1697, Pollexfen engaged Charles D'Avenant in a very public debate over the East India Trade, with D'Avenant accusing Pollexfen of holding on to simple-minded and outdated notions of trade.
Unusually for Mercantilists, Pollexfen often defended economic policies for their usefulness in the "employment of the poor", rather than just the cash it might bring.
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