Birthplace Ireland (?)
Posts Held Banker.
Publications Books: 1. Essay on the Nature of Commerce (1755, 1959).
Career Little definite is known about Cantillon except that he was Irish and turned briefly from a successful banking career, mainly in France, to write one of the most outstanding works in the history of the subject - the Essay .... This was circulated in manuscript for many years after his death and was extremely influential, at least throughout the eighteenth century. However, it was necessary for Jevons to rediscover it in 1881 after a prolonged neglect. His ideas on population, determination of prices, wages and interest, the role of the entrepreneur, banking, and the influence of money supply on the economy are increasingly quoted and appreciated.
Secondary Literature J. J. Spengler, `Cantillon, Richard', International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, D. L. Sills (ed.) (Macmillan and Free Press, 1968), vol. 2; A. E. Murphy, `Richard Cantillon - An Irish Banker in Paris', in Economists and the Irish Economy , ed. A. E. Murphy (Irish Academic Press, 1984).

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