 Unintended Consequences: Scottish Political Economy as a Reaction to MercantilismAida Ramos
Chapter 7 in Shifting Capital, 2018, pp 119-138 from Palgrave Macmillan Abstract: Abstract This chapter asserts that the vacuum left by the departure of the Scottish Parliament allowed Scotland’s other institutions to continue to develop, which helped to lay the groundwork for the emergence of the Scottish Enlightenment. Scotland’s changed economic circumstances and governance post-Union necessitated the emergence of Scottish political economy. The work of Sir James Steuart and Adam Smith is explored as a reaction against the worldview of mercantilism on growth, trade, poverty, and independence. Each author’s growth theory demonstrates a growth theory based on interdependence among individuals in society rather than the competition and dependence of nation-states. Rather than interference, the role of government is reassigned as one that supports commerce in the case of Smith and prevents crises in Steuart. Keywords: Mercantilism; Political economy; Adam Smith; Sir James Steuart; Scottish Enlightenment; Trade; Growth; Poverty; Interdependence; Development; Government; Governance (search for similar items in EconPapers) There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:pshchp:978-3-319-96403-4_7 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-96403-4_7 Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Palgrave Studies in the History of Economic Thought from Palgrave Macmillan |
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