Cantillon left a rich legacy
Related Articles
RICHARD Cantillon was probably Ireland's most influential economist and an 18th Century character who made three fortunes, helped to bankrupt France and died in mysterious circumstances in his home near Bond Street in London.
"Cantillon was probably the greatest analytical economist of the 18th century," says his biographer and Trinity College academic Antoin Murphy.
The Kerry-born economist became an accountant for the Duke of Chandos who was running Britain's military affairs during the War of Spanish Succession.
A book of Cantillon's essays was published posthumously and went on to influence Adam Smith who borrowed heavily from Cantillon for his masterpiece 'The Wealth of Nations'.
Irish Independent
