The Wisdom In Riptide

The 17th century may be said the revolutionary century of England. The development of capitalistic economic factors caused the patency and intensification of a series of social contradictories. Wars, crisis, revolutionary, competition, and so on, England was suffering from crisis and transformation it had never experienced before. Living in such a social and historical condition, William Petty made his life extraordinary and legendary. Meanwhile, based on his personal experience and his penetrating observations on social problems, Petty posed his pioneer theories and methods. His Economic thoughts were so remarkable that they were accepted and inherited by latter scholars during a long period.Economists have made comprehensive and thorough analysis on the theoretical connotation of Petty's thoughts, and historians have gained great achievements in the research of England's social transformation in the 17th century. However, we can hardly find such a writing, which holds the view of history and discuss the relationship between petty's thoughts and the historical background of his epoch. I do admit that the pioneer effect of petty's thoughts is valuable. But I think the more important content of our research is to find the source of petty's theory innovation and evaluate the practical effects of his proposition. So it should be an academic subject that deserve our efforts.Petty was appraised as the father of political economy by Karl Marx for his achievements in economics. But on the other hand, Marx described him as a chameleonic plunderer and a degrading forefather of his offspring. The distinct contrast calls for our review and discussion on the evaluation of Petty.