Arbitrismo

The arbitristas were a group of reformist thinkers in late 16th and 17th century Spain concerned about the decline of the economy of Spain and proposed a number of measures to reverse it. Arbitristas directed analyses of problem and proposals (memorials) for their solution to the king, asking him to take a particular action in the economic or political sphere. The increase in the production of proposals and analyses outlining solutions to the perceived problems of the empire were at a pace comparable to the inflation in the real economy during the price revolution of the sixteenth century and increased further with the crisis of the seventeenth century.

El arbitrismo es el nombre genérico que se da a una corriente de pensamiento político y económico desarrollado en la Monarquía Hispánica, fundamentalmente en la Corona de Castilla, durante la segunda mitad del siglo XVI y el siglo XVII, relacionada intelectualmente con la llamada Escuela de Salamanca. Puede considerarse el arbitrismo como la primera literatura económica digna de tal nombre, simultánea y en buena parte precedente del mercantilismo de otras naciones europeas, como Francia e Inglaterra.