ABSTRACT
The work of Jean Bodin (1530-1596) has been known to economists at least since the mid-nineteenth century even though his wider fame, by far, lies in political philosophy. But there has been disagreement over precisely what Bodin achieved in his writings on economics. It is, however, worth emphasizing that neither critics nor proponents call in evidence of their position a detailed examination of the text. It is author contention in this chapter, based on just such an examination, that the dismissal of Bodin's priority rests–where the grounds for such dismissal are clear at all–upon an inappropriate and incomplete statement of the quantity theory. In the present context, an increase in the money supply is of key interest. In addition it should be recognized that, until quite recently, quantity theorists did not assume completely inelastic aggregate supply, so that there may also be some change in output associated with a change in the money supply.
