THE FRENCH MONEY THEORISTS ABOUT PRICE REVOLUTION
The article considers the theoretical views of French monetary economists of the second half of the XVI century in connection with the price revolution of the period. The usual explanation of this inflation is based on the quantity theory of money, which was first propounded by Martin de Azpilcueta Navarro (1492-1586) in Spain and by Jean Bodin (1529-1596) in France. According to this theory, the precious metals, arriving in Spain from the New World, increased the quantity of metallic currency in the state. This in turn led to the increase in prices in Spain and to a balance-of-payments’ deficiency, as the demand for foreign merchandise, including goods supply from Spain to America, exceeded the Spanish own export abroad. This deficiency was financed by metallic currency which, respectively, affected price increase in foreign countries. However, the French theorists, besides the increase of precious metals in circulation, emphasized also other reasons for the inflation, such as a population growth, the actions of monopolists and the increased demand for luxury goods. In their works, they also offered a number of measures for a stabilisation of national currency. Their conclusions promoted the preparation of the monetary reform which was carried out by the government of France in 1577.