Charles Davenant
Charles Davenant (1656 – 1714) was an English economist, Tory politician and pamphleteer who sat in the Parliament of England representing the parliamentary constituencies of St Ives and Great Bedwyn.
In 1710 Godolphin lost his office, which removed one of Davenant's supporters from power and threatened his position as Inspector General of the Imports and Exports.
Davenant wrote Sir Thomas Double at Court and New Dialogues upon the Present Posture of Affairs to make amends with the Tory party, which was likely to be returning to power.
Sir Thomas Double at Court reversed Davenant's argument for moderation in his 1703 Essays upon Peace at Home and War Abroad; and New Dialogues upon the Present Posture of Affairs repeated the attacks on the methods of financing public spending that he had been stating since 1689.
As an economist, Davenant was a strong supporter of the mercantile theory, and in his economic pamphlets (as distinct from his political writings) he takes up an eclectic position, recommending governmental restrictions on colonial commerce, but freedom of exchange at home.
This work, commissioned by the Lords Justices, was an argument against the majority party's proposal that England's coins should be devalued to pay for the war with France.
"[4] In 1697 he published Discourses on the Publick Revenues and on the Trade of England, part 1, which contained strong objections to long-term borrowing as a way to fund government expenditures and advocated paying back the debt incurred during the war as soon as possible.
"[8] The last section contained an attack on the actions and policies of the Junto party and was more of a political rant than an exposition of economic ideas.
[5] Davenant's writings begin to shift away from purely economic discussions to political commentary designed to curry favour with the ruling party to secure employment.
"[5] His Tom Double Returned out of the Country, also published 1701, explained all of Davenant's ideas on trade and public finance and the underlying reasoning behind them.
His main concern was that the Whig party would restart the war with France and put the country further into debt, which would in turn require greater taxation of land owners.
His Essays upon Peace at Home and War Abroad, published November 1703, "promoted 'moderation' and the anti-party attitude favoured by the Queen and Harley.
In 1709 Davenant published Reflections upon the Constitution and Management of Trade to Africa, in which he "reverted to his normal attitude of suspicion and outright hostility towards the Dutch.
He did go to great lengths to publish the pamphlet anonymously, and was apparently in a difficult financial position; Waddell therefore suggests that this was a work-for-hire and not necessarily something which Davenant actually supported.
[11] King does not describe a formal definition of the law in his journal, which is the primary source of his writings,[11] and Davenant does not seem to be an innovative thinker and often wrote pamphlets to promote ideas or policies that would be beneficial to his personal economic or political status; therefore, it seems likely Davenant extended King's work to prove his claims that borrowing to fund the war was bad for England's economy and that excise taxes were the appropriate way to fund the government.
