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John Laws

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: John Law
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(baptized April 21, 1671, Edinburgh, Scot. — died March 21, 1729, Venice) Scottish monetary reformer. In 1705 he published the banking reform plan Money and Trade Considered, in which, unlike other mercantilists, he proposed a central bank as an agency for manufacturing money, as banknotes rather than as gold and silver. France agreed to try his plan in 1716, and he founded the Banque Générale, which was authorized to issue notes. He soon combined it with a company empowered to develop France's North American territories, particularly the lower Mississippi valley. His plan foundered; held responsible for the "Mississippi Bubble" speculative disaster, he fled to France and died in poverty in Venice.

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Biography: John Law
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The Scottish monetary theorist and banker John Law (1671-1729) anticipated many contemporary banking and fiscal practices.

John Law was born on April 21, 1671, in Edinburgh to wealthy parents. While in London to continue his education, he killed a rival in a love affair in 1694 and had to flee to Amsterdam. There and elsewhere in Europe he studied banking and financial practices and developed his own economic and monetary theories.

Law exposed his views in a number of works, the most important being Money and Trade Considered with a Proposal for Supplying the Nation with Money (1705). According to Law, as well as many of his contemporaries, the main responsibility of government was to increase the prosperity of the country. This could be accomplished most effectively by increasing the amount of currency in circulation. However, unlike the mercantilists who emphasized the importance of the precious metals, Law believed that paper currency had distinct advantages over gold and silver. He concluded that the precious metals should be monopolized by a bank as security for the issuance of paper currency in much larger sums than the supply of gold and silver.

Law attempted to interest several governments in his theories but was unsuccessful until 1716, when the Duc d'Orléans, regent of France for the young Louis XV, approved the establishment of a private bank, the Banque Générale, later the Banque Royale. In addition to providing the services of similar banks, the new institution was authorized to issue paper currency redeemable at face value for the precious metals. In 1717 the bank and the government became more closely associated when the regent instructed that all public funds be deposited in it and authorized the payment of taxes in currency issued by the bank.

In 1718 Law founded the Compagnie d'Occident, which was given a monopoly on trade with the Mississippi Valley region. It was the regent's expectation that, since public securities could be used to purchase shares in the new company, creditors of the state would exchange their bonds for shares, thus reducing the public debt. The company extended its activities, founding new companies that gave it a virtual monopoly of foreign trade and such lucrative internal affairs as the tobacco monopoly and the collection of indirect taxes.

All of these companies issued shares whose value rose rapidly in anticipation of the huge profits to be earned. Propaganda (rumors of the discovery of gold and silver mines, for example) helped stimulate speculation in the shares of the various companies. However, by early 1720 insiders realized that these hopes were exaggerated and began to sell their shares and to exchange their paper currency for bullion. Political intrigue and the activities of rival bankers contributed to the decline of the "system."

Law's efforts to halt the debacle were unsuccessful, and in December 1720 he fled France. He died in Venice on March 21, 1729, a poor man, still convinced of the validity of his theories.

Further Reading

The most satisfactory study of Law in English is H. Montgomery Hyde, John Law (1948).

Additional Sources

Minton, Robert, John Law, the father of paper money, New York: Association Press, 1975.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: John Law
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Law, John, 1671-1729, Scottish financier in France, b. Edinburgh. After killing a man in a duel (1694) he fled to Amsterdam, where he studied banking. Returning to Scotland (1700), he proposed to Parliament plans for trade and revenue reforms and published Money and Trade Considered (1705). His ideas and a proposal for a national bank were rejected, and Law went to France. The finances of France were in critical condition at the death of King Louis XIV, and Law succeeded in winning the support of the regent, Philippe II, duc d'Orléans, for a scheme that promised to reduce the public debt and stimulate French trade and industry. Law believed that credit and paper money, by encouraging investment, would regenerate the French economy. In 1716 the regent chartered Law's private Banque générale and authorized it to issue paper currency. In 1717, Law acquired the monopoly of commercial privileges in the French colony of Louisiana and organized the Compagnie d'Occident, or Mississippi Company, which was consolidated (1719) with the French East India Company and other organizations as the Compagnie des Indes.

The Banque générale was made the royal bank in 1718, and its issues of notes were guaranteed by the state. Finally (1720), Law, made controller general of finances, merged the huge stock company with the royal bank and took over most of the public debt and the administration of revenue. A rash of speculation swept France. Numerous small investors bought stock, which soared to heights far beyond what could be expected in returns from the exploitation of the colonies (see Mississippi Scheme) and from trade with Asia. The bubble burst suddenly. Well-informed speculators sold their stock at huge profits, setting off a frenzy of selling that ruined thousands of investors. The system collapsed (1720), and Law fled France in disgrace. He died in Venice, where he had supported himself by gambling.

The dizzy speculation caused by Law's system greatly helped to discredit the regency and the idea of a national bank. Although the immediate results of Law's schemes were disastrous, colonial enterprise received a lasting stimulus. His monetary theories have found defenders among later economists.

Bibliography

See biographies by H. M. Hyde (rev. ed. 1969) and J. Gleeson (2000).

Artist: John Law
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Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists

Similar Artists:

Georg Graewe, Matthew Shipp, Marilyn Crispell, Cecil Taylor, Jon Lloyd
  • Active: '80s, '90s, 2000s
  • Genres: Jazz
  • Instrument: Piano
  • Representative Albums: "Chants", "Abacus", "Extremely Quartet

Biography

Whether as a composer or a free improviser, British pianist John Law places his training in Baroque classical music at the service of an elegant, delicate brand of distinctly European-flavored jazz. Law began playing piano at age four and went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London, but left classical music to embrace avant-garde jazz in 1986, during his 20s. He first formed a trio called Atlas with bassist Paul Rogers and drummer Mark Sanders, which by the early '90s had become the remainder of the Jon Lloyd Quartet, appearing on several albums. He also struck up a long association with South African drummer Louis Moholo, and in 1993 formed the Extremely Quartet with Moholo, bassist Barry Guy, and saxophonist Paul Dunmall; they issued an eponymous album on HatHut in 1997. In the mid-'90s, Law recorded a trilogy of adventurous solo piano albums for Future Music (1994's Talitha Cumi, 1996's Pentecost, 1997's The Hours) that fused jazz with plainchant and medieval music; during this period, he also worked with Evan Parker, Keith Tippett, David Murray, and the Dedication Orchestra. In 1996, wanting to explore more traditionally rhythmic conceptions of jazz, Law formed a trio with bassist Tim Wells and drummer Paul Clarvis; that year they issued two albums, Giant Leaves (Autumn Steps) and the Monk-themed The Onliest, again on Future Music. Dave Wickins later replaced Clarvis, and also joined Law's new quartet the Moment Band, which also featured saxophonist Tim Garland and bassist Alec Dankworth. In 2000, Law formed his own label and distribution company, Cornucopia. The following year, his new project Abacus (a long-form suite which also gave another new Law quartet its name) appeared on HatHut; it reunited Law with Jon Lloyd and Tim Wells, and added drummer Gerry Hemingway (Anthony Braxton). ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
Wikipedia: John Laws
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John Laws
Born 8 August 1935 (1935-08-08) (age 74)
Wau, Papua New Guinea
Residence Woolloomooloo Wharf, Sydney[1]
Nationality Australian
Occupation Retired radio presenter
Website
johnlaws.com.au[dead link]

Richard John Sinclair Laws, CBE (born 8 August 1935) better known as John Laws or Lawsie, is a former prominent and controversial radio presenter in Australia. From the 1970s until his retirement on 30 November 2007 Laws hosted a hugely successful morning radio program, which mixed music with interviews, opinion, live advertising readings and listener talkback. His distinctive voice earned him the nickname the Golden Tonsils.

Contents

Career

Laws' radio show was syndicated throughout Australia for many years and was consistently one of the most popular and influential programs in the Australian media. Laws is also a familiar voice for generations of Australians through his large and varied body of work as a voice-over artist for commercials, and as a celebrity endorser of commercial products, notably Valvoline motor oil, with his popular catchphrase "Valvoline, you know what I mean" and Oral-B toothbrushes (the slogan "Oral-B, the toothbrush more dentists use.")[2][3].

Laws was on Australian talk radio longer than any other broadcaster and as a result of his popularity, for many years he has been cited as Australia's highest-paid radio personality. Although he commented regularly on topical news, Laws did not consider himself a journalist, saying he considered himself foremost to be an entertainer and salesman. Laws had become one of the most influential media personalities in Australia over the last three decades, and one of the few commercial radio personalities whose interviews with state and federal political leaders are considered to have a significant influence of the course of politics in New South Wales especially, and Australia in general.

Biography

Born in Wau, Papua New Guinea, Laws was educated at Knox Grammar School and Mosman Preparatory School in Sydney, Australia. He began his radio career in 1953 at 3BO in Bendigo before working at several rural radio stations prior to joining 2UE in 1957, the first of four terms at that Sydney radio station, during which time Laws, (along with Bob Rogers, Tony Withers and Stan Rofe) became prominent as one of the first Australian disc jockeys to play rock'n'roll music. Laws is said to have pioneered the practice (soon taken up by Rofe) of using contacts in the airline industry to supply him with the latest pop releases from overseas, a facility which gave him an edge at a time when many pop records were not released in Australia until weeks or even months after being issued overseas.

According to Laws, he spent quite a lot of time in central western Queensland working as a rouseabout, and a fencer. He said that it was during this period that he used to see road trains go by, and this was the origin of his love of trucks and truckers. Presumably, his stint as a rouseabout and fencer was prior to 1953, and occurred between his leaving school (in 1952 at 17??) and his 18th birthday. It should be noted that there were no road trains on western Queensland roads in or prior to 1953.

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Laws left 2UE two years later, and moved for a time to the Hunter Valley, where he ran a farm. In 1962 he moved back to Sydney where he joined 2GB. Two years later he rejoined 2UE and remained with the station for five years. In 1969 he joined 2UW's line-up and remained there for 10 years. He returned to 2UE in 1979, this time for another five years. He then moved to 2GB after a highly publicised bid for his services, but returned to the 2UE fold when the station was number eight in the ratings. The return of Laws was the primary cause of the station then being number one in Sydney for many years. However, his appeal began to wane. In 2002, station colleague and archrival Alan Jones moved from 2UE to 2GB, and soon took that station to the top talk position in Sydney.

Laws' radio program was syndicated nationwide, with it especially popular in rural areas. Capital city stations taking Laws include 4 BC in Brisbane, 2CC in Canberra, 101.7 HOFM in Hobart and Mix 1049 in Darwin.

Laws program

From 1998 to 2000 Laws had a current affairs/personality driven television commentary program called "Laws" on the now defunct Fox Talk.

In 1998, he had a program called "John Laws - In One Lifetime" on Network Ten (this was parodied for a title of the skit "John Laws: In One Bucket" on the Martin/Molloy's 1998 comedy album Eat Your Peas.

Laws also has recorded numerous albums (mostly of Australian country music), and has written several best selling books.

Retirement announcement

After 55 years on air Laws announced that he would retire from radio on 25 June 2007.[4] He was trumped though by other media agencies who broke the story at 9am. Laws made the announcement at about 9:10 a.m., saying that he had planned to make the announcement at about 9:45 a.m.

Laws' last broadcast was on 30 November, one week after the 2007 federal election. He left the 2UE building in Sydney in his distinctive Rolls Royce Phantom surrounded by hordes of cameramen after signing off with his usual quote, 'you be kind to each other.'

Controversies

In 1999, Laws became a central figure in what has become known as the Cash-for-Comment scandal. During the year, the ABC TV current affairs program Media Watch revealed that Laws and rival talk-back host Alan Jones (then also at 2UE) had been paid to give favourable comments by companies including Qantas, Optus, Foxtel, Mirvac, Telstra and major Australian banks, without disclosing this arrangement to listeners. Media Watch also revealed that Laws had evidently pursued a policy of making repeated unfavourable comments, most notably about the state of the Australian banking industry, but that Laws' stance had dramatically reversed after the signing of secret agreements with businesses which he had previously criticised. The Australian Broadcasting Authority estimated the value of these arrangements at $18 million and found Laws, Jones, and 2UE to have committed 90 breaches of the industry code and five breaches of 2UE's license conditions.

In 2004, both Jones (now at 2GB) and Laws were accused of cash for comment again, after entering into similar deals with Telstra. The ABA subsequently found that Laws' deal constituted cash for comment but Jones' did not.

Laws, apparently angered by what he saw as inequitable treatment, launched stinging attacks on Jones and the ABA's head, David Flint. In an appearance on the ABC's Enough Rope, Laws accused Jones of placing pressure on Prime Minister John Howard to keep Flint as head of the ABA, made comments that many viewers took to imply a sexual relationship between Jones and Flint,[5] and broadly hinted that Jones and Flint were homosexual.

In November 2004, Laws and 2UE colleague Steve Price were found guilty of vilifying homosexuals after an on-air discussion about a gay couple appearing in the reality TV show The Block. They described the gay couple as "grubby" and "poofs".

Laws had previously apologised for another incident in which he called gay TV personality Carson Kressley, of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy fame, a 'pillow-biter' and a 'pompous little pansy prig'.

In August 2007 Laws was again embroiled in controversy after suggesting on-air that "Chinese drivers are probably the worst drivers on the face of the earth." Despite such comments, he denied that he was a racist.[6]

Several community radio stations in regional areas began re-broadcasting the John Laws show circa 2000. Whilst not directly targeting John Laws, this focussed the attention of the ABA onto these stations, for potentially breaching the BSA, and Codes of Practice. Several ABA investigations were held, many finding breaches by the community stations.

In October 2007, West Coast Eagles player Adam Selwood commenced legal proceedings against Laws over comments made about him regarding a mid-year incident involving Fremantle Football Club player Des Headland.[7]

In December 2007, during a long alcohol-fuelled lunch at Sydney's Otto Ristorante to farewell his former personal assistant, he was informed of the presence of rival broadcasters Derryn Hinch and Bob Rogers at another restaurant nearby. Laws went over to their table and immediately began to spout forth a tirade of invective calling them 'the two most despicable cunts' he'd ever met in the industry. Hinch and Laws traded insults with Laws insisting Hinch was a 'hypocrite' and a 'failed alcoholic'. Hinch replied that that must mean Laws was a 'successful one' and that if Laws wasn't in fact an alcoholic then he was a 'bloody good actor'. Eventually 2UE colleague Mike Carlton convinced Laws to return to his table at Otto and Hinch and Rogers were left to laugh off the altercation[8].

On 7 May 2009 Laws made a statement on the 20th anniversary special edition of the ABC's Media Watch program, in which he exhibited no remorse for his role in the Cash-for-Comment scandal, instead implying that the whistleblower (Media Watch) was the wrongdoer and that the people involved were only jealous of his success.

Cultural influence

In 1996 a portrait of John Laws by artist Paul Newton won the Packing Room award at the Archibald Prize. It now hangs in his production office at 2UE.

Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating called him the "broadcaster of the century".

He has been immortalised as the topic of a song by Australian comedian-singer Kevin Bloody Wilson called "Hello John".

Golden microphone stolen

On 17 July 2007 the gold-plated microphone was stolen. The Sennheiser was presented to him by his radio station 2UE management in 2003 to commemorate his 50 years on the air and is said to be worth $10,000.[9] "I'm very upset about it - it's been a part of my life" he told the Daily Telegraph.

Laws subsequently switched to another gold plated microphone; a Rode NT2-A presented to him for his 40th anniversary and has promised charges will not be laid if the Sennheiser is returned.

References

  1. ^ "Laws pays $15m to move up in the world". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2004-05-26. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/25/1085461759073.html. 
  2. ^ Sarah Plaskitt (2003-11-28). "DENTIST ROB US BACK IN STYLE FOR ORAL-B". www.bandt.com.au. http://www.bandt.com.au/news/5e/0c01bb5e.asp. Retrieved 2009-03-07. 
  3. ^ The Sunday Telegraph (2009-01-11). "Deals damage credibility". The Daily Telegraph (News Limited). http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24895942-5001031,00.html. Retrieved 2009-03-07. 
  4. ^ Cameron, Deborah (2007-06-26). "It's goodbye world from the Golden Tonsils". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/tv--radio/golden-tonsils-signs-off/2007/06/25/1182623775067.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1. 
  5. ^ "John Laws interview transcript". Enough Rope. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2004-05-03. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/transcripts/s1100812.htm. 
  6. ^ "Laws roars one more slur for the road". ninemsn.com.au. 2007-08-17. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=287235. 
  7. ^ "Adam Selwood launches legal action". Herald Sun. 2007-10-21. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22619318-662,00.html. 
  8. ^ Daily Telegraph, 6 December 2007
  9. ^ "John Laws's golden microphone stolen". ninemsn.com.au. 2007-07-17. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=278992. 

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Biography. © 2006 through a partnership of Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "John Laws".  Read more