Profile Major Works Resources

Thomas Tooke, 1774-1858.


Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, son of the chaplain of the English factory of that city.  After a brief education, Tooke became involved as a merchant in the Russia trade. 

During the depths of an economic depression of 1820,  Thomas Tooke drafted and organized the famous London Merchants' Petition, signed by numerous London merchants, bankers and classical economists.   It was presented to parliament on May 8, 1820 under the sponsorship of Alexander Baring, MP.  The petition called for the repeal of the Corn Laws and other protectionist restrictions, as harmful to British industry.  The petition notably rejects the doctrine of reciprocity, the use of trade barriers as diplomatic negotiating tokens, and notes that trade barriers are injurious to Britain, regardless of what foreign countries do ("our restrictions would not be the less prejudicial to our own capital and industry, because other Government persisted in preserving impolitic regulations").   Tooke's petition is normally credited as kicking off the British free-trade movement,  Tooke subsequently became the leading organizer of the Political Economy Club of London, founded in 1821.  

In the 1820s, Tooke emerged as the leading figure of the English "Banking School" during the Bullionist Controversy.  He rejected the Quantity Theory without actually developed a clear monetary theory of his own.

Tooke is particularly renowned for the magnificent compilation of economic statistics, esp. the corn prices, in his monumental six-volume History of Prices (1838 to 1857, last two volumes edited with William Newmarch)

Upon his death, a public subscription by his friends and admirers led to the creation of the Tooke Professorship of Economic Sciences and Statistics at King's College, London.

 

  

top1.gif (924 bytes)Top

Major Works of Thomas Tooke

  • London Merchants Petition, against commercial restrictions 1820 [1882  repr] (see also Tooke's memoir 1857, v.6: App.1)
  • Thoughts and Details on the High and Low Prices of the Thirty Years from 1793 to 1822, in four parts, 1823 [v.1, v.2]. [1824 2nd ed.; av]
  • Considerations on the State of the Currency, 1826 [bk, av]
  • Letter to Lord Grenville on the Effects Ascribed to the Resumption of Cash Payments on the Value of Currency, 1829. [bk, av]
  • On the Currency in Connection with the Corn Trade, and on the Corn Laws, to which is added a postscript on the present commercial stagnation, 1829.
  • A History of Prices and of the State of the Circulation from 1793 to 1837, preceded by a brief sketch of the state of the corn trade in the last two centuries , 6 vols., 1838-1857
    • 1838: : v.1 [av] and v.2 [av]
    • 1840: v.3  [av] ("in 1838 and 1839, with remarks on the corn laws and on some of the alterations proposed in our banking system, being a continuation of the history of prices from 1793 to 1837")
    • 1848: v.4 [av] ("from 1839 to 1847 inclusive, with a general review of the currency question and remarks on the operations of the act 7 & 8 Vict. c. 32, being a continuation of the History of Prices from 1793 to 1839") 
    • 1857: (with W. Newmarch): v.5 [av] and v.6 [av]
      •   ("during the nine years 1848-1856, in two volumes, forming the fifth and sixth volumes of the history of prices from 1792 to the present time")
  • An Inquiry into the Currency Principle; the connection of the currency with prices, and the expediency of a separation of issue from banking, 1844  [bk] [av], [McM]
  • On the Bank Charter Act of 1844, its principles and operation, with suggestions for an improved administration of the Bank of England, 1856. [av]

 
HET

 
top1.gif (924 bytes)Top

Resources on Thomas Tooke

 

 
top1.gif (924 bytes)Top
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All rights reserved, Gonçalo L. Fonseca