Introduction
WilliamPettywasborninafamilyofhandicraftsmenintheUK,andhasworkedinmanyoccupations,fromwaitersonmerchantships,sailorstodoctors,andprofessorsofmusic.Heissmart,hard-working,daringtotakerisks,andgoodatspeculation.Inhislateryears,hebecameabiglandlordwithlargetractsofland.Healsofoundedfisheries,ironsmeltingandaluminumminingenterprisessuccessively.MarxhatedPetty’scharacter,sayingthathewasa"veryfrivoloussurgicalmedic"anda"frivolity,predatory,unscrupulousadventurer";however,hegavehimahighregardforhiseconomicthinking.Heiscalled"thefounderofmodernpoliticaleconomy","themostgeniusandmostinnovativeeconomicresearcher","thefatherofpoliticaleconomy,andtoacertainextentstatistics.Founderof".
Thetimesmakeheroes,andthegreatdevelopmentoftheBritishbourgeoisiehasmadesucha"frivolous"adventurerthe"fatherofpoliticaleconomy."Inthemiddleofthe17thcentury,workshophandicraftshadbecomethemainformofproduction,andBritainhadbecomethemostindustrializedcountryintheworld.Correspondingly,capitalistproductionrelationshavereachedthemostdevelopedlevelinBritain.ThisistheeconomicbasisonwhichtheBritishcanfirstproduceclassicalpoliticaleconomy.
ThevictoryoftheBritishbourgeoisrevolutionlaidtheclassfoundationforthefirstgenerationofclassicalpoliticaleconomyinBritain.ThebourgeoisrevolutionbrokeoutinBritainin1640.ThecapitalisteconomyinBritaindevelopedrapidly.Thehandicraftindustryintheworkshopsbecamemoreandmoreprosperous.Industrialcapitalgraduallyreplacedcommercialcapitaltooccupyanimportantpositioninthesocialeconomy.Pettyrepresentedtheinterestsanddemandsoftheemergingindustrialcapital,andheactivelywroteandstatedthathesoughtatheoreticalbasisforBritaintorulecoloniesandseizeworldhegemony.Itwasfromthistimethathebegantostudyeconomics.
WilliamPettyseemstohavebeenforgottenbystatistics."PoliticalArithmetic"writtenbyhim,firstlybecauseitwasbornafterAristotle,andduetothereasonsofthetimes,therearefewdataobtainedthroughstrictstatisticalinvestigation,butmoredatabasedonexperience.Secondly,inpeople'sunderstandingofstatistics,peopleoftenonlypayattentiontothedataobtainedfromstatisticalsurveys,andignoretheinfluenceofcollectingandanalyzingdataonstatistics.AlthoughAristotlepioneeredstatistics,itwasonlyamerestatisticalinvestigation,andWilliamPettyledstatisticsintoaneweraofdatacollectionandanalysis.
Theadventof"PoliticalArithmetic"markedthebirthofstatistics."PoliticalArithmetic"isaworkthatusesquantitativemethods(thatis,"arithmetic")tostudysocialissues(thatis,"politics").Inthebook,WilliamPettymadeaquantitativecomparativeanalysisofthenationalconditionsandnationalstrength(mainlyeconomicstrength)ofBritain,France,andtheNetherlandsonthebasisofthelabortheoryofvalue.Basedonthis,hemadesuggestionsforthedevelopmentoftheBritishsocietyandeconomyatthattime..
"Taxation"
WilliamPetty'smostfamouseconomicsbookis"Taxation"(1662).Althoughhiseconomicworksareallaboutthemaineconomicproblemsthatexistedinthesocietyatthattime,anddidnotformacompletetheoreticalsystemofpoliticaleconomy,hewasnotsatisfiedwiththephenomenalexplanationoftheactualeconomicproblems,butstrivedtoexploretheemergenceofeconomicphenomena.Naturalbasis.Heopposedmakinginferencesbasedonsubjectivewishesandproposedtofindthenaturalbasisofeconomicphenomenafromspecificstatisticaldata.Asaresult,hegotridoftheinfluenceofmercantilism,transferredthestudyofpoliticaleconomyfromthefieldofcirculationtothefieldofproduction,andexaminedtheinternalrelationsofcapitalistproduction.
Maincontribution
Itwasthefirsttoputforwardthebasicprinciplethatlabordeterminesvalue,andonthebasisoflaborvaluetheory,heexaminedthecategoriesofwages,landrent,interest,etc.,hetooklandrentWorkisthebasicformofsurplusvalue.Pedidistinguishesbetweennaturalpriceandmarketprice.Hisnaturalpriceisequivalenttovalue.HepointedoutthatifapersonproducesabushelofwheatinlabortimeequaltothelabortimerequiredtoproduceanounceofsilverfromPeruviansilverminesandtransportittoLondon,thelatteristhenaturalpriceoftheformer.ItcanbeseenthatPettybelievesthatthelabortimespentinproducingcommoditiesdeterminesthevalueofcommodities.Healsoproposedthatthevalueofcommoditiesisinverselyproportionaltolaborproductivity.However,hedidnotmakeacleardistinctionbetweenvalue,exchangevalueandprice.Heregardedtheconcretelaborofproducingsilverasvalue-creatinglabor,andhedidnotunderstandthatitwasabstractlaborthatcreatedvalue.Healsoputforwardtheviewthat"laboristhefatherofwealth"and"landisthemotherofwealth".Fromthis,hebelievesthatlaborandlandcreatevaluetogether.Obviously,thisviewiscontradictorytohislabortheoryofvalue.Itconfusestheproductionofusevalueandthecreationofvalue.
WilliamPetty’sabilitytobecomethe"fatherofpoliticaleconomy"isstilllargelyduetohispersonalexperienceandqualityaswellasthenewresearchmethodsformedonthisbasis.Attheageof14,heshowedarebelliouspersonalitytowardshisparents,wenttoseaandpursuedafreelife.Hewasobsessedwithscience,especiallymedicine(1644-1645,hestudiedmedicineatLeidenUniversityintheNetherlands,andthenwenttoFrance,HepracticedmedicineandengagedinacademicresearchintheUnitedKingdom.In1649,heobtainedadoctorateinmedicinefromtheUniversityofOxford.HebecameadoctorandconcurrentlyaprofessoroftheRoyalCollegeofMedicine.Theprecisevisionoflearningexamineseconomiclife,andhisspeculativecareerhasalsogivenhimanempiricalunderstandingofthelawsofeconomicoperation.HealsoservedasthesecretaryofthegreatphilosopherHobbes,whichinturnenabledhimtorealizetheinnovationofeconomicresearchmethodologywhenheexploredeconomicissues.
Publishingbooks
Theoreticalviewpoints
TaxThesourceof
Pedi’seconomicthoughtistheso-called"laboristhefatherofwealth,andlandisthemotherofwealth".
Hebelievesthattherealsourceofsocialwealthislandandlabor,andtheultimateobjectoftaxationcanonlybelandrentanditsderivedincome.Heregardedlandrentastheproductofsurpluslabor,andthustheultimatesourceoftaxes.
Theeconomicimpactoftaxation
WilliamPettydeeplyanalyzedtaxationandnationalwealth,taxationandTherelationshipbetweennationaleconomicpower.Hebelievesthattheincreaseordecreaseofnationalwealthisthemainindicatoroftheeconomiceffectoftaxation.Hesaidthatiftaxesareleviedonpeoplewhoengageinproductionandtradeactivitiesthatincreasematerialwealthtosociety,society’swealthwilldecrease;onthecontrary,iftaxesareleviedonpeoplewhodonotproduceanykindofmaterialwealthorgoodsofactualvaluetosociety,Andtransfertaxrevenuetotheformercategoryofpeople,andusethecapitalinthefieldofproduction,socialwealthwillincrease.Hepointedoutthatthegovernmentcanusetaxationtoguidepeopletostartnewproductionundertakingsandincreasesocialwealth."Ifacountryforcespeoplewhohavenotyetobtainedfullemploymenttoengageintheproductionofgoodsthathavealwaysbeenimportedfromabroad,orimposestaxesonthesepeopletoforcethesepeopletoengageintheproductionofthesegoods,IthinkthistaxwillalsomakeIncreaseinpublicwealth".
Principlesoftaxation
Paidarticleproposedtaxation"fairness","reliability","convenience"and"convenience"inresponsetothevariousshortcomingsoftheBritishtaxationsystematthetime.Fourprinciplesofsaving".Hepointedout:"Thesetaxesarenotleviedbasedonafairandunbiasedstandard,butaredeterminedbythemomentarypowerofcertainpoliticalpartiesorfactions.Notonlythat,theproceduresforlevyingthesetaxesarenoteasy.,Thecostisnotsaved,itisleviedbythetaxcontractor,andthetaxcontractordoesnotknowexactlywhattodotobeconsideredreasonable,soitsubcontractsthetaxcollectionpowerlevelbylevel,sothatintheend,thepoorarelevied.Theamountoflevyactuallyreachedtwicetheamountactuallyreceivedbytheking."Pettybelievesthatthetaxpackagesystemviolatestheprincipleoffairnessandcertainty;polltaxcannotbepaidaccordingtoability,whichisunfair;intermsofpaymentmethod,itisinconvenienttopaytaxesonlyincurrency,anditwillalsobringconsumption.
Theoriesonvarioustaxes
Inthe"OnTaxation",Pedidiscussestariffs,polltaxes,tithes,domesticconsumptiontaxes,etc.Taxtypes.Hebelievesthatthepolltaxisataxsystemleviedontheperson.Thepoorertheperson,theheavierthetaxburdenandthemostharmful.
Taxperspective
Tariff
Paidibelievesthatitisataxofthenatureofinsurancepremiums,andthetaxrateshouldnotbetoohigh.HebelievesthattherearemanyshortcomingsinBritishtariffs.Forexample,thetargetoftariffsissemi-finishedproducts,whichisnoteconomical;thecollectionoftariffsrequiresalotofofficials;peopletendtosmugglethroughbribery,collusion,concealment,anddisguise.Tothisend,heproposedtoreformtariffs.Therearetwoplans:oneistolevyatonnagetaxonallimportandexportvesselsinsteadoftariffs;theotheristochangetariffsintoinsurancepremiumsforeasyadjustment.
Headtax
Therearetwotypesofheadtax,oneisleviedoneveryonewithoutdistinction;theotherisleviedoneveryonebytitleortitle.Pettybelievesthatthefirsttypeofpolltaxhasseveraladvantages."First,itisleviedquicklyandcostsless.Second,thepopulationfiguresarealwayswell-known,sotheamounttobeleviedcanbeaccuratelycalculated.Third,Itwillstimulateallpeopletolettheirchildrenengageinsomekindofbeneficialoccupationaccordingtotheirspecialties,sothatthechildrencanusetheirincometopaytheirownpolltax."
However,Pettypointedoutthis.Thistaxisveryunfair,becausepeoplewithdifferentabilitiespaythesametax,andthepersonwhobearsthemostchildren'sexpensespaysthemosttax.Thesecondtypeofpolltaxisfairerthanthefirst,becausepeoplewithtitles(suchashonor,position,status)andtitlesaremostlywealthypeople,andtheyshouldpaymore.
Domesticconsumptiontax
Althoughtheconsumptiontaxisunfair,suchastheunfairtaxationofgeneralbeerandstrongbeer,Pettyactivelyadvocatesthecollectionofconsumptiontax.Thereasonsare:First,thistaxisleviedaccordingtotheactualenjoymentofeachperson,whichisinlinewithnaturaljustice.Itdoesnotstrengthenthesystemforanyone,andthetaxburdenonpeoplewithlowincomeisextremelylight;second,iftheconsumptiontaxisnotataxpackagebutadirectstateIfleviedandreasonable,itcanencouragepeopletobethriftyandincreasenationalwealth;third,becausepeoplecanonlyconsumeanyitemonce,theywillnotpaytwiceortwicethetaxonthesameitem;fourth,theimplementationofthistaxcanbeMakeaccuratecalculationsofthecountry’swealth,production,tradeandstrengthatanytime.
Tithe
Hebelievesthatthisisasalaryleviedbythesaintsonthefruitsofproduction.Astherearemoreandmoreincompetentpriestsandtheburdenoftithingisgettingheavierandheavier,itshouldbegraduallyreduced.Regardingtariffs,hepointedout:“Thistariffwasoriginallyarewardgiventothemonarchtoprotectthetransportationofimportedandexportedgoodsfrompirates.”Therefore,hebelievesthattariffsareaninsurancepremium.Atthesametime,hebelievesthatimposingtaxesonsemi-finishedproductsrequirestheadditionofmanyofficials.Itiseasytosmugglegoodsthroughbribery,andtolevytaxesonasmallnumberofgoodsproducedintheUKforexchangewithforeigngoods.Thesearethefourmajordrawbacksoftariffs.Regardingdomesticconsumptiontax,Pettybelievesthatthebestwaytolevytaxistoimplementdomesticconsumptiontax.Headvocatedadomesticconsumptiontaxforthewholepeople.Hebelievedthatthedomesticconsumptiontaxcouldincreasethedirectproportionaltaxleviedontheproperty-owningclass,anditplayedanimportantroleintheoriginalaccumulationofBritishcapital.