13 April 2009

Meet Henry Thornton

Henry Thornton (1760-1815) was a banker, M.P., philanthropist, and a leading figure in the influential group of Evangelicals that was known as the Clapham set. His 'Enquiry into the Nature and Effects of the Paper Credit of Great Britain (1802)' is an amazing performance. It has been remarked elsewhere that:


...it anticipates in some points the analytic developments of a century to come.


No other performance of the period will bear comparison with it, though several, among them Ricardo's, met with much greater success at the time as well as later... He was one of those men who see things clearly and who express with unassuming simplicity what they see.


The current generation is fortunate that Henry is also a Ghost Who Walks, at least to the extent of informing us with a lively and informative blog, which can be found at www.henrythornton.com . As well as his own insightful views, Henry presents the views of an interesting circle of friends, which includes Peter Jonson, Michele Levine, Gary Morgan, Louis Hissink, Nick Raffan, Fiona Prior, Peter Byron, John Roskam, Ross Garnaut, Nicholas Gruen, Hugh Morgan and many more – as well as scratchings from your bending author here at Aussie Observer.


You will always be able to access Henry easily from here, because there is a link alongside at “Handy Links”.

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