school School of Salamanca
16th-century Spanish scholastic school, precursors of natural law economics and subjective value theory
format_quote Quotes
"In countries where money is plentiful, all other things being equal, a greater quantity of money is given for goods and services than where money is scarce. Whence it follows that money itself, like any other commodity, is worth more where it is scarce than where it is abundant."
menu_book Comentario Resolutorio de Cambios (Commentary on Exchange)
View Full Quote"We see by experience that in France, where money is scarcer than in Spain, bread, wine, cloth, and labour are worth much less. And even in Spain, before the discovery of the Indies, goods and labour were much cheaper than they are today, for the reason that there was then much less money."
menu_book Comentario Resolutorio de Cambios (Commentary on Exchange)
View Full Quote"A sum of money today is worth more than the same sum to be received in the future. This is not only the common estimation of men, but is grounded in reason: present goods are available for present needs; future goods must be awaited, and in the meantime their possession is uncertain."
menu_book Comentario Resolutorio de Cambios (Commentary on Exchange)
View Full Quote"What difference does it make whether a man is despoiled of his fortune openly and by force, or secretly, by stealth — whether through a bandit on the road or through a prince who debases the currency by which all things are measured?"
menu_book De Rege et Regis Institutione (On the King and the Royal Institution)
View Full Quote"The prince is not the owner of the private property of his subjects. To impose new taxes or to increase old ones without the consent of the people is an act of tyranny, contrary to natural law and destructive of the commonwealth."
menu_book De Rege et Regis Institutione (On the King and the Royal Institution)
View Full Quote"When a prince seizes sovereign power by force and arms without any legal title, without popular consent, and without the approval of the better part of the commonwealth, he may be killed by any man whatsoever — for he is a public enemy who has broken the bond that holds human society together."
menu_book De Rege et Regis Institutione (On the King and the Royal Institution)
View Full Quote"When buyers and sellers are free to act, and neither fraud nor force is present, the price that results from their voluntary agreement is just — for justice in commerce consists in the freedom of exchange, not in the equality of the things exchanged."
menu_book De Iustitia et Iure (On Justice and Law)
View Full Quote"If a merchant knows that goods will soon be cheaper in a particular place, or that supply will increase, he is not obliged to inform buyers of this. It is not unjust to sell at the current market price, since the price is set by common estimation, not by future conditions."
menu_book De Iustitia et Iure (On Justice and Law)
View Full Quote"A thing is worth as much as it can be sold for without fraud or coercion. The value of goods is not determined by their intrinsic nature, but by the estimation which men commonly put upon them — and this estimation varies with time, place, and circumstance."
menu_book De Iustitia et Iure (On Justice and Law)
View Full Quote"The just price of things is not determined by the nature or quality of things in themselves, but by the common estimation of men — that is, by what buyers and sellers commonly agree to give and receive in exchange."
menu_book De Iustitia et Iure (On Justice and Law)
View Full Quote"To sell below the just price is loss to the seller; to buy above it is loss to the buyer. The prince cannot without injustice compel men to sell below the common price, for this is to force them to give what is theirs to others without compensation."
menu_book De Iustitia et Iure (On Justice and Law)
View Full Quote"Private ownership of goods is not contrary to natural law, but was introduced by human reason for the utility of human life. For natural law does not forbid private possession; rather, it requires that what is acquired by legitimate means be respected as belonging to its possessor."
menu_book De Iustitia et Iure (On Justice and Law)
View Full Quote"Not every kind or degree of wrong is sufficient justification for war. The degree of the punishment must be in proportion to the degree of the fault."
menu_book De Indis (On the Indians)
View Full Quote"The whole world, which is in a sense a single republic, has the power to enact laws that are just and convenient for all persons, such as are the rules of the law of nations."
menu_book De Indis (On the Indians)
View Full Quote"The barbarians undoubtedly possessed true dominion, both public and private, before the arrival of the Spaniards among them, just as Christians possess it. Neither their princes nor private persons could be despoiled of their property on the ground that they were not true owners."
menu_book De Indis (On the Indians)
View Full Quoteauto_stories Books
Comentario Resolutorio de Cambios (Commentary on Exchange)
Martín de Azpilcueta's 1556 treatise on monetary exchange, containing the earliest clear statement of what would become the quantity theory of mone...
Read MoreDe Indis (On the Indians)
Francisco de Vitoria's landmark 1532 lecture at the University of Salamanca, laying the groundwork for international law and natural rights theory....
Read MoreDe Iustitia et Iure (On Justice and Law)
Luis de Molina's six-volume masterwork on justice and law, completed in 1593. Molina's most enduring economic contribution is his clear formulation...
Read MoreDe Iustitia et Iure (On Justice and Law)
Domingo de Soto's systematic treatment of justice and law, published in 1553. Soto develops a rigorous natural law analysis of property rights, the...
Read MoreDe Rege et Regis Institutione (On the King and the Royal Institution)
Juan de Mariana's major work of political theory, published in 1599. Mariana argues that political power originates in the community and is held in...
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