GENERAL ON ECONOMIC THOUGHT
... In his first work on economic theory, The High Price of Bullion, a Proof of the Depreciation of Bank Notes (1809), he argued for a sound currency based on metal. ... Mill, John Stuart (1806-1873), British philosopher-economist, the son of James Mill; he had a great impact on 19th-century British thought, not only in philosophy and economics but also in the areas of political science, logic, and ethics. ... Failing to secure re-election in the general election of 1868, he returned to France, where he studied and wrote until his death in Avignon on May 8, 1873. ... Opposed to the economic terms of the Treaty of Versailles, he resigned his position and wrote The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919), in which he correctly predicted that the staggering reparations levied against Germany would goad that country into economic nationalism and a resurgence of militarism. ... Keynes closely examined the problem of prolonged depression in his major work, The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money (1936). ... It stated that unused savings prolonged economic stagnation and that business investment was spurred by new inventions, new markets, and other influences not related to the interest rate on savings. ... Keyness ideas have profoundly influenced the economic policies of many governments since World War II, creating the school of economics known as Keynesianism, and many consider his General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money one of the most significant theoretical works of the 20th century. ... He is considered a leading protagonist of the economic theory of monetarism, that free market forces, rather than increased government intervention, can most effectively produce a balanced and noninflationary rate of economic growth. He is the outstanding exponent of the policy that a central bank can best promote economic stability by increasing the money supply at a fairly fixed rate instead of sharply expanding or contracting it. ... In this work Samuelson clearly and carefully expounds in mathematical and quantitative terms his middle-of-the-road economic philosophy, based largely on the theories of John Maynard Keynes. He developed mathematical techniques to explain relationships among economic phenomena. ... For his contribution to economic theory, Samuelson was awarded (1970) the Nobel Prize for Economics. ... Colbert, Jean-Baptiste (1619-1683), French statesman, who tried to reorganize the economic structure of France in order to increase French revenue and make the country self-sufficient. ... The office was abolished, but in effect reconstituted when Colbert was made comptroller general of finance in 1665. Beginning with a drastic overhaul of finances, including prosecution of corrupt officials and repudiation of certain bonds, Colbert proceeded to reconstruct commerce and industry according to the economic principles known as mercantilism.