Thomas Joplin

Thomas Joplin (1790?–1847), was an English timber merchant and banker.

In 1822 he published his "Essay on the General Principles and Present Practices of Banking in England and Scotland", that attracted considerable notice. It launched a strong attack on the monopoly position of the Bank of England and proposed the setting up of joint stock banks. These ideas were subsequently taken up to a certain extent in the system initiated in 1828.

In his book "Thomas Joplin and Classical Economics" (1993), D.P. O'Brien shows that Joplin was well ahead of his time in his use of formal models and empirically tested predictions.

Unfortunately Joplin's own banking ventures brought him very little profit, and he died in some obscurity. His later writings were largely ignored.

Publications

* "An Essay on the General Principles and Present Practices of Banking in England and Scotland", 1822.
* "Outline of a System of Political Economy", 1823.
* "Views on the Subject of Corn and Currency", 1826.
* "An Analysis and History of the Currency Question", 1832.
* "The Cause and Cure of our Commercial Embarrassments", 1841.

econdary sources

* O'Brien, Denis P. (1993) - "Thomas Joplin and Classical Economics"
* Blaug, Mark (ed.) (1999) - "Who's who in economics" (3d edition).