The influence of economic factors on the formation and development of banking law in the Austrian monarchy (second half of the 18th - mid-19th centuries)

Abstract

The article analyzes the influence of economic factors on the formation and development of banking law in the Austrian monarchy (second half of the 18th - mid-19th centuries). It is noted that at the beginning of the 18th century. Austria was an agrarian country with a typical medieval economy, unadapted to changing realities, with weak fiscal and tax systems. The lack of reforms, excessive spending on the army, low tax revenues led to a constant increase in debt. The emerging situation forced the Austrian imperial court to seek answers to complex economic issues.
 It was established that the solution to the economic problems of the state took place within the framework of scientific discussions of the Austrian economic school, the roots of which go back to the 15th century. At first, its representatives were mainly Dominicans and Jesuits, teachers of theology in universities, who were the main centers of philosophical thought of that time. They substantiated cause-and-effect relationships, discovered and explained the laws of supply and demand, the causes of inflation, the subjective nature of economic value, etc. Austrian economists were defenders of property rights and free trade, and opposed price controls and restrictions that stifled entrepreneurship. The huge number of monetary transactions carried out on the Austrian market could not be fully regulated if the money accumulated by banks through deposits was not used.
 Itis shown that one of theimportant achievements of economists of the XVII-XVIII centuries. the introduction of a dynamic concept of competition, which is understood as an entrepreneurial process of rivalry, which moves the market and accelerates the development of civilization. This idea formed the basis of the Austrian market theory. Another fundamental element of Austrian economic thought was the principle of time superiority, according to which present goods, other things being equal, are valued higher than future ones.
 It was determined that banking activity in the Austrian monarchy was determined by the economic situation and directly depended on the political situation. The numerous wars that Austria waged during the period under study had a negative impact on the country's financial condition, forcing the government to take loans both from other states and from its own rich citizens. The period of the middle of the XVIII - the beginning of the XIX centuries. in the Habsburg monarchy was characterized by the instability of the financial system and the banking sector in particular. At that time, the regulation of the legal foundations of banking activity and the creation of the National Bank of Austria, designed to promote financial stability and economic development, occurred. However, the banking legislation had a number of shortcomings, the elimination of which fell on the second half of the 19th century.