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牛顿与1696—1699年的货币重铸
赖建诚
Isaac Newton and the 1696—1699 Great Recoinage Debate
Lai Jiancheng

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摘要 

17世纪90年代,英国面临重大钱荒(通货不足),用各种手段禁止走私、融币、窖藏,但都无效。主因是法国缺钱,因而提高钱币面额的10%,吸引各国白银到法国铸币图利。英国银钱业的套利行为导致白银被大量运往国外。解决方案主要是重铸货币。以财政部长朗兹为代表的一派主张货币贬值1/4,以洛克为代表的恢复旧币值的升值派认为,国家不能随意改变货币的含银量,否则失信于民,也造成汇率起伏,不利工商发展与投资。这种时代精神,造成升值派在国会胜出。1695年12月10日英国国会决定,不改变银币的纯度,维持都铎王朝时期的币值。这场朝野大争辩中,牛顿似乎和洛克站在同一阵线,主张恢复旧币值(升值派)。但牛顿1695年关于此事的手稿却显示他与财政部的观点较为接近。

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赖建诚
Abstract

As England faced a serious problem of money shortage in the 1690s, the authority used all measures to prevent smuggling out, melting and hoarding of silver coins, but all proved in vain. A main cause was that France had serious financial deficits, and thus devalued French money by 10%. This attracted hot money from foreign countries into France for arbitrage profits. Large quantities of silver were shipped abroad, bringing on heavy losses to England.Despite all kinds of suggestions and heated debates, the government was unable to resolve the issue effectively. In December 1695, after the Parliament voting, the Treasury made a decision thatthe silver content of coins wouldnot be changed. This means that while France devalued 10%, England still maintained the value of silver coins as set by Tudor Queen Elizabeth in 1601. The silver value of English coins was therefore officially set higher than their face values. Consequently, coins were melted and exported, with losses of 12% of total silver in 1685, 15% in 1688, 30% in 1692 and 49% in 1695 respectively. The Treasury (led by William Lowndes) tried to devalue, but an opposing group (led by the philosopher John Locke) argued for returning to the Tudor standard (to appreciate). This paper analyzes why the Treasury lost the battle in the Parliament. The role of Isaac Newton was ambiguous: in public debates he supported Locke’s claim to return to the Tudor standard (appreciate money), while in a written manuscript (1695), he supported Lowndes’s claim for a heavy devaluation (25%). This controversy, when judged by today’s economic mentality and policy orientation, is quite probable that Lowndes’s claim for a heavy devaluation (25%) might win in the Parliament. Most delegates would have agreed to three important measures: (1) completely prohibitingthe export of silver bullion and coins; (2) or prohibitingexport of silver bullion and coins within a certain period; (3) and/or increasing coinage supply (in today’s terms: quantitative easing). These three policies couldreduce England’s silver outflow and avoid domestic money shortage, because money shortage had important consequences, such as deflation, higher interest rates, consumption slump, discouraging investments, increasing unemployment and social instability, etc. Moreover, the devaluation of Pound would help the export of English products and discourage foreign imports. Why did John Locke and his followers tend to appreciate, returning to the silver content of Tudor coins? In terms of mentality, they might thinkthat the State should maintain the intrinsic value of moneyrather than alter the silver contents at discretion,otherwise people wouldlost confidence, impairingbusiness transactions at home and abroad. For these reasons, Locke won the Parliament’s final decision. The attitude of Newton was ambiguous. On the one hand, he was in favor of devaluation (same as the Treasury), as manifested in his 1695 manuscript. On the other hand, he supported Locke’s line of appreciation (returning to the Tudor money standard). This ambiguity was a kind of mental paradox between sense and sensibilityoften observed in Newton’s personality as has been noted by many biographers.

Key wordsEngland&rsquo    s 1690s money shortage Isaac Newton Locke&rsquo    s claim to return to the Tudor standard (appreciate money) Treasury led by Lowndes to devalue the Pound   
    
引用本文:   
赖建诚. 牛顿与1696—1699年的货币重铸[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2019, 5(3): 16-. Lai Jiancheng. Isaac Newton and the 1696—1699 Great Recoinage Debate. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2019, 5(3): 16-.
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https://www.zjujournals.com/soc/CN/     或     https://www.zjujournals.com/soc/CN/Y2019/V5/I3/16
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