Two Manuscripts of William Petty

CSWP 71 (April 2025)

Author Tony Aspromourgos

Keywords economic surplus; population growth; value-added taxation; quantification

JEL B11

This article provides transcriptions of two manuscripts of William Petty (1623–1687), together with a substantial editorial apparatus. The first manuscript analyses the feasibility of doubling the population of England plus Ireland and Scotland in 25 years; the second considers how a uniform taxation might be imposed upon consumption. Elements of particular interest in the manuscripts are: an empirical estimation of economic surplus for England, Ireland and Scotland taken together; the conceptualization of value-added taxation as an instrument for taxing consumption; and an argument for limits to rational quantification.


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