War Finance and Fiscal Devolution

Type:

Book Chapter

Author:

James D. Tracy

Published:

2008

Publisher:

Oxford University PressOxford

Abstract Wars with France made Charles V's government in Brussels dependent on the creditworthiness of the provinces. The provincial states issued long‐term bonds (underline renten), using the capital to pay off high‐interest bankers' loans, but the states (not the central government) collected the taxes by which bonds were funded. By 1557 things looked so desperate that Philip II summoned the States General—a risk his father had carefully avoided. While the revenue plan adopted was found to be unworkable, the fact that the larger assembly had been convened to deliberate on high policy did much to enhance its prestige. Meanwhile, Antwerp's bankers followed the money; they dealt not with government officials (who now had little disposable revenue) but with the provincial parliaments.

Türkçe sayfa →