Abstract:
This book provides a detailed and compelling guide to the life and economic work of Gerónimo de Uztáriz. It contextualises his work within the economic and political trends of the time, including the Enlightenment, Spanish liberalism, and colonial empires. Particular attention is given to de Uztáriz’s seminal work Theórica y Práctica de comercio y de marina and how it achieved international circulation and recognition. Its influence on 18th century Spain is examined, alongside a detailed analysis of the trade systems of the day. The translation and reception of Theórica in France, Great Britain, Italy, Ireland, and Germany is also discussed. This book aims to shed new light upon the economic work of Gerónimo de Uztáriz and highlights why his ideas remain relevant and important. It will be of interest to students and researchers working within modern history and the history of economic thought.
Table of contents:
Uztáriz and the Origins of the “Science of Commerce” in Europe (Jesús Astigarraga, Niccolò Guasti)
Abstract:
This chapter aims to introduce the figure of Uztáriz and to underline the importance of his Theórica (1724) in both the Hispanic and European contexts. The state of the art on these issues is discussed in detail, and the book’s main objectives are set out. The chapter highlights Uztariz’s book as an attempt to establish a “new politics” for the Spanish Monarchy and concludes by emphasising its international dimension: to speak of the Theórica is to speak of the origins of the “science of commerce” in the European Enlightenment.
Gerónimo de Uztáriz: Biographical Note (Reyes Fernández Durán)
Abstract:
This chapter aims to reconstruct Uztáriz’s personal and intellectual history. It highlights, among other aspects, his relationship with the influential group from Navarre who had settled in Madrid, his long sojourn in Belgium and the Netherlands, his informative travels around Europe, his posting to the Viceroyalty of Sicily as Treasury advisor, and his return to Spain at the height of the War of the Spanish Succession to serve the Crown in diplomatic affairs and on different councils. These stages are related with the vicissitudes of the 1724 first edition of the Theórica and the 1742 and 1757 re-editions, as well as the range of measures to tackle the country’s economic crisis set out in the work. The importance of examining the reports that Uztáriz wrote at the authorities’ request and other unpublished writings is also stressed.
The Man and His Circumstances: The Historical Context of Writing the Theórica (Sergio Solbes Ferri)
Abstract:
The years following the end of the War of the Spanish Succession were particularly frenzied in several aspects. The revision of the situation in the international and military policy sphere brought about by the Treaties of Utrecht has been emphasized, and this period is also understood to have formed part of a restructuring process for the Spanish economy. However, until recently, the idea of a simultaneous reorganization of an institutional framework affecting Spain as a whole has been blurred. The Nueva Planta reform phase was not limited to its implementation in the Crown of Aragon kingdoms, but was a key moment in the development of the modern state throughout Spain. Jean Orry’s reforms at the end of the conflict did not achieve a stable structure for several decades. Consequently, the context in which Uztáriz’s Theórica (1724) was published needs to be studied as a particularly delicate and significant moment in the halting overhaul of the Bourbon administration.
Europe in the Time of Gerónimo de Uztáriz’s Theórica: Between the Peace of Utrecht (1713) and the Peace of Vienna (1725) (Virginia León Sanz)
Abstract:
Uztáriz finished the Theórica at the end of 1724, a troubled year in Philip V’s reign, characterised by the monarch’s abdication and return to the throne. Bourbon diplomacy was about to undertake a U-turn in terms of its alliances, with a rapprochement with Austria and the signing of the Peace of Vienna in 1725. For almost a decade, Philip V had been endeavouring to reverse the Treaties of Utrecht, mainly those signed with England, but also others relating to the Mediterranean which had meant the loss of Sardinia, Milan, Naples and Sicily and which translated into a dynastic policy that conditioned Atlantic policy. Spain’s joining of the Quadruple Alliance in February 1720 and the slow pace of work at the Congress of Cambrai, the conflicts with England over the implementing of the Trade Treaty and the Treaty of Asiento, and the deterioration of relations with France all culminated in a change in Spain’s attitude and a rethinking of its positions at political and trade level arising from the Europe of Utrecht. In this European context, Uztáriz’s international career and the range of posts he held in Philip V’s service equipped him with a unique perspective on the trade policies of France, England and Holland. Shortly after the work was published, in 1725, Spain signed a Trade Treaty with Austria.
Uztáriz and His Sources: The Public Good Beyond the Reason of State (Niccolò Guasti)
Abstract:
Uztáriz’s treatise advocated a new economic policy for the Spanish Bourbon monarchy: since commerce, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, had come to underpin the balance of power in the international system, he lobbied for strong state intervention to develop national industry and trade with the colonies. Combining his training as a military engineer and a strong expertise in the administrative field with the heuristic tools taken from French Colbertism, Spanish arbitrismo and maybe English Political Arithmetic, Uztáriz featured some possible countermeasures against the re-export Dutch trade and the aggressive economic policy carried out by England since the second half of the seventeenth century. However, he never considered the political solutions or economic data gained from his sources (Vauban, Dubos, Huet, Savary, Moncada, Fernández de Navarrete, etc.) as a theoretical knowledge, but rather a practical know-how, useful to devise an economic policy able to restore Spain as a new model commercial empire.
Taxes and Tariffs in the Fiscal Debate in Spain at the Time of Uztáriz’s Theórica (1724–1757) (Niccolò Guasti, Jesús Astigarraga)
Abstract:
Uztáriz’s Theórica was the most influential Spanish economics text throughout the country and its colonies as a whole in the eighteenth century. It soon became the object of well-honed critical analyses. Although this controversial reception touched on many of the arguments put forward in the work, taxation was undoubtedly a major focus of the interpretations. This chapter aims to define the outlines of the long shadow cast by the Theórica over the three decades after its publication. It is divided basically into three sections. The first analyses Uztáriz’s core proposal for taxation, the second deals with tariffs and the customs system. and the third examines the controversial reception of both, particularly the former, among political economists and reformers of the day. The chapter underlines that Uztáriz conceived taxation (taxes and tariffs) as a linchpin for establishing a “new policy” that would bring Spain into line with Europe’s leading countries and promote the recovery of comercio útil, especially domestic manufacturing.
The Organisation of the Armadas of War and Commerce in the Writings of Gerónimo de Uztáriz (1717–1725): Polemics During the Transfer of the Casa de la Contratación (Ana Crespo-Solana)
Abstract:
The relationship between timber provision for navy shipyards and the naval reforms carried out during the eighteenth century has been the subject of recent analysis. The aforementioned issues, namely those pertaining to naval models and the supply of timber, were prominent in the political and economic discourses that shaped the decision to transfer the trade and navigation tribunals from Seville to Cadiz. This aspect was a point of contention between Gerónimo de Uztáriz and those who advocated for the centralisation of the navy, particularly the minister José Patiño. This chapter puts forward an analysis of the reciprocal relationship between forests, resources for the navy (dealt with in Chapter LXIII of the Theórica), and the organisation of fleets and navies from the perspective of Uztáriz's comparative critique. The author’s analysis is focused on the political and economic debate that took place within the Bourbonic Court concerning the defence of interests surrounding the creation of new shipyards and naval centres in eighteenth-century Spain.
The Colonial Balance of Trade: Uztáriz and the Carrera de Indias (Fidel J. Tavárez)
Abstract:
That Uztáriz’s Theórica had enormous influence in the Hispanic world, especially concerning commercial matters, is a well-known fact. Be that as it may, it remains surprising that an economic treatise centrally concerned with commercial matters had very little to say about the Spanish Empire’s port-restricted and convoy system of trade, the infamous fleets and galleons. Why did Uztáriz almost entirely eschew this topic, even though the reform of the fleets and galleons would later become one of the most important economic concerns among ministers in the court? After describing Uztáriz’s economic thought in relation to various arbitristas (projectors) of the seventeenth century, this chapter proposes that, to answer this question, it is first necessary to reconstruct a related debate about whether a modern commercial nation had to imitate the Dutch in erecting privileged commercial companies. Arguing against the need to imitate the Dutch model, Uztáriz suggested that the most important factor of a successful commercial state was a well-organised system of tariffs and economic incentives that privileged national goods. Whether this occurred via the fleets and galleons or commercial companies was of secondary importance. Instead, the crown had to focus on trading with national goods and achieving a favorable balance of trade.
The Theórica: Publishing History and Economic Lexicon (Elena Carpi)
Abstract:
This chapter deals with the Theórica from the point of view of publishing history and the comparison between the first two editions, with special attention to the paratexts and to the handwritten notes in the margins of the first edition. In addition, it proposes the study of the most relevant neological formations, from a lexicogenetic point of view.
Uztáriz in Britain (Richard van den Berg)
Abstract:
The publication of the English translation of Uztáriz’s Theórica in 1751 signalled the beginning of the reception of this work in Britain. Over the next decades there were frequent, but often somewhat isolated, references to Uztáriz in works dealing with commercial, colonial or naval matters. However, by far the most extensive use was made of this Spanish treatise by Malachy Postlethwayt in his Universal Dictionary of Trade and Commerce. This chapter examines the selections Postlethwayt made and the ways in which he used these substantial borrowings in support of his own positions.
The French Translation of the Theórica: From Political Arithmetic to Political Economy (Antonella Alimento)
Abstract:
This chapter considers the identity of the person who drove forward the 1753 French translation of Uztáriz’s Theórica y práctica de comercio y de marina. Evidence supports the hypothesis that it was Véron de Forbonnais who proposed the translation as part of a broader editorial initiative, which also included the translation of The British Merchant (1753) and was aimed at employing political arithmetic to prevent the renewal of the commercial treaty binding France to the United Provinces and the implementation of the treaty signed with England in Utrecht in 1713. Forbonnais, who admired Uztáriz’s text for its methodological approach, used his notes not only to correct the factual errors made by Uztáriz but also to replace the natural law approach adopted by the Navarrese official with an economic anthropology based on self-interest and “progressive consumptionism”, which he embraced having read and appreciated David Hume.
Uztáriz in the German-Speaking World: Karl Zinzendorf’s Commercial Travels to Spain in 1767 (Simon Adler)
Abstract:
The contribution will examine the reception of Uztáriz’s Theórica in the Habsburg monarchy. It will discuss how Karl Zinzendorf, a leading enlightened Minister in Maria Teresa’s government and specialist in trade affairs, used Uztáriz’s ideas for his commercial travels to Spain in 1767, and it will show how the cameralist writer Joseph von Sonnenfels included the Théorica in his writings. It attempts to highlight the influence of Uztáriz´ ideas amongst economic writers and government ministers in German states.
The Circulation and Translation of Uztáriz’s Theórica in Italy (Niccolò Guasti)
Abstract:
Uztáriz can be considered one of the most frequently quoted foreign economists in eighteenth-century Italy; in some Italian contexts (the Kingdom of Naples, Habsburg Lombardy, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Modena and the Papal State), he was regarded among the founding fathers of the new political economy as an academic and scientific discipline. His Theórica was read by Italian reformers and Enlightenment thinkers (Genovesi, Verri, Beccaria, Pagnini, Paradisi, Fracastoro, Vergani, Zanon, etc.) especially through the French translation by Forbonnais (1753), although in 1793 a Spanish expelled Jesuit, Gonzalo Adorno Hinojosa, released a new translation, this time directly from Spanish into Italian. Although it was a partial version (since Adorno translated almost half of original Uztáriz’s treatise), this latest version of the Theórica confirms that at the end of the eighteenth century Uztáriz’s economic ideas and political suggestions were still effective and attractive in several Italian states. The chapter examines the spread of Uztáriz’s Theórica in eighteenth-century Italy through its translations and the reasons for this enduring success.
Uztáriz’s Theórica and Strategies for Spain’s Economic Development (1740–1795) (Jesús Astigarraga, Javier Usoz, Juan Zabalza)
Abstract:
The Theórica’s commercial and industrial goal was hegemonic in Spain during the first half of the eighteenth century, in tune with prevailing ideas in the rest of Europe. During this time the book marked ways of thinking about how the structural problem faced by Spain due to its “lack of trade” could be solved, and from 1740 onwards it became a key text, thanks to the two re-editions in 1742 and in 1757. The work was especially influential in the three areas of taxation, trade and development strategies. However, after around 1760 its influence waned due to the prevalence of doctrines in favour of prioritising agriculture. In spite of this, its proposals for taxation, support for the role of trade, which was partially open to free trade initiatives, and criticism of companies with state privileges meant that the work retained its relevance in this predominantly agrarian context. Its pro-manufacturing stance, which was largely detached from Ancien Regime rigidity and privileges, also survived among major authors and in specific fields. This chapter therefore underlines the argument that there was not just one interpretation of the Theórica but many, and that they were wide-ranging and even contradictory.
Read more here: DOI 10.1007/978-3-031-75857-7.
