Thomas Tooke and the Monetary Thought of Classical Economics

This study provides a comprehensive account and reconsideration of the contribution to political economy of Thomas Tooke (1774-1858). It clarifies Tookes monetary thought and its legacy to modern economics. The study shows Tooke possessed a rich and extensive political economy, covering many aspects of economic activity relevant to key policy issues. Tookes political economy is shown to be a unified and coherent body of intellectual thought in the classical tradition which, like most of his nineteenth-century contemporaries, was much influenced by Adam Smiths economics. More particularly, Tookes monetary thought, especially his novel banking school theory, is shown to be theoretically coherent from the standpoint of nineteenth-century classical economics. It is also shown that besides contributing toward a better understanding of the behaviour of monetary systems in general, key elements of Tookes banking school theory make an important contribution to explaining distribution, growth and price inflation in modern economics.