IDEAS OF CAMERALISM IN ECONOMIC POLICY OF CANCRIN

The paper deals with the history of economic thought of Russia and the domestic economic history of the early XIX century. The subject of study in this paper is the economic policy of the Minister of Finance of Russia E.F. Cancrin. The author's purpose is to prove the hypothesis that the Minister of Finance was a supporter of the economic doctrine of cameralism. At the same time, the article focuses not on the economic views of Cancrin, but on the analysis of activities through which he implemented his policies. This approach appears rather new to investigate the economic policy of this outstanding political figure during the reign of Alexander I and Nicholas I. In early XIX century, there was a unique situation in Russia, namely parallel money circulation with two equal currencies, banknotes and silver coins, simultaneously operated; exchange rate between them was established on the stock exchange. On the one hand, the parallel circulation destabilized the monetary economy of the country, but on the other, contributed to the replenishment of the state Treasury with the necessary funds in precious metals. It is the advantage of dual circulation to finance the budget prevented Cancrin from eliminating this unconventional phenomenon. His actions were guided more by practical considerations than by the theoretical patterns popular at the time. This policy met the criteria of cameralism. The spirit of cameralism corresponded to the policy of protectionism, the supporter of which was Cancrin. All this allows the author to conclude that Cancrin was a cameralist.