Arbitrista

In the plural, arbitrios was a name given to certain taxes used for public expenditures; it was also applied to a fiscal figure who reports short-term benefits and does not require negotiation with taxpayers.

[3] Some arbitristas argued that the large quantities of silver and gold arriving from the mines in Spain's American colonies was doing great damage to the Spanish economy.

Francisco de Quevedo, in several passages of his works, describes well-meaning arbitristas ("arcigogolantes") as the cause of all kinds of catastrophes; one of them is so engrossed in writing his theories that he does not realize that he has taken out an eye with his pen.

This work reflects on the foundation of interest praising the ethical uses of finances and counter to the restrictive interpretation of the Catholic Church that deemed it usury.

Luis Ortiz was active during the second half of the sixteenth century and accountant of the Treasury of Castile during the reign of Philip II, wrote a memorial to the King so that no monies leave Spain, after the bankruptcy of the Austrias.

This was the first text of the Spanish mercantilists, in which he considers that the decline in prices lies in the conservation of gold in Castile and, for this purpose, he creates a plan with which he intends to promote resources.

Among the main measures proposed was the withdrawal of all types of leisure, the introduction of work and the creation of manufactured products instead of only exporting raw materials, as well as the abolition of existing customs between the various Hispanic kingdoms, the disentailment of church property and a tax reform.

He analyzed the monetary problems of Spain and studied solutions to solve the situations created in the country because of the tendency to export raw materials and import manufactures paid with the gold from the Indies.

He intuited the concept of economic structure and consistently proposed not one, but a wide range of initiatives that could have brought the kingdom out of the morass it was in, such as increasing productivity, promoting population growth, extending irrigation and starting a repopulation forest.

It was his conviction that wealth only grows "by the natural and artificial industry" and, therefore, speculative operations and administrative privileges actually impoverished the kingdom generating the abandonment of trades and productive activities.

The Riojan Pedro Fernández de Navarrete (1564 - 1632), canon of Santiago, Seneca translator humanist and royal adviser, was inspired by Cellorigo and Moncada to write his Conservation of Monarchies, a work of mercantilist bias that advocated the control of imports and the promotion of exports, although it did not fall into the trap of bullionism, because it understood that the overabundance of money is pernicious if there are no goods that can be acquired.

The Montes de Piedad was an idea in a way similar to the Granados that already worked, as credit entities of municipal foundation and grain stores that lent to the farmers.

[12] Antonio Serra, a Neapolitan (and therefore a subject of the same Catholic Monarchy of the Habsburgs), wrote Breve trattato delle causa che possono far abbondare with the historical and intellectual context of Castilian abitrismo.

Francisco Martínez de Mata ( Memorials and Discourses , 1650–1660), was "critical of foreign merchants who left Spain only 'the responsibility of keeping [the colonies] while Spaniards are their miserable servants'."