What is it about?
This is about Necker's Fiscal Report to Louis XVI (1781) , which has been hailed as the first published account of French finances and also a fake.
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Why is it important?
I show that Necker's Compte-rendu was not the first one to be published. I also show that, contrary to what has been said by contemporaries and historians since, its purpose was to increase taxes so as to raise loans to fund the American War against Britain. This questions the traditional interpretation about Necker's reluctance to taxation and, more broadly, the partisan approach concerning the truthfulness of this document and Necker's publications.
Perspectives
These ideas crept in m,y mind in 2005, as I was writing a biography of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. This is part of my reflection about the history of fiscal transparency developed in other articles.
Joel Felix
University of Reading
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Problem with Necker’s Compte Rendu au roi (1781), March 2013, British Academy,
DOI: 10.5871/bacad/9780197265383.003.0006.
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