Thomas Tooke (1774–1858), Mountifort Longfield (1802–1884) and Richard Jones (1790–1855)

Pioneers in Economics series

Edited by the late Mark Blaug, former Professor Emeritus, University of London and Professor Emeritus, University of Buckingham, UK

Thomas Tooke was the founder of the contra-quantity theory of money – the view that monetary policy is powerless to influence prices because the supply of money depends on the flow of money expenditure and hence is the result and not the cause of price change. Yet his prominence within economic circles was also derived from his work as a lobbyist for free trade and the principal spokesman of the banking school, arguing against statutory control of the currency.