(DP 1999-05) Economic Ideas During the Malolos Congress

Abstract

While much has been written about the political ideas of the revolution, little if anything has been written about these economic ideas. The paper is an attempt to provide an intellectual background to the economic policies and directives emanating from the Malolos Republic. It traces the source of the revolution’s economics cameralist ideas, as handed down by liberal Spanish thinkers and practical policy reformers. It documents these influences in the revolution’s policies towards public finance in general. Personal taxation, trade, and the important agrarian question.