The Political Economy of Trade and Growth

The Political Economy of Trade and Growth provides the basis for a major re-evaluation of Sir James Steuart's contribution to modern economics through a rigorous analysis of his most important work.Hong-Seok Yang presents an analytical interpretation of An Inquiry into the Principles of Political Economy, in terms of modern economics. This study of Steuart's classic work reveals that his political economy contains not only original ideas and ground-breaking thinking for his time, but also many major ingredients of modern economics. Arguing that the Inquiry is implicitly logical, Dr Yang analyses both its structure and content, placing Steuart's doctrine in historical, methodological and ideological context. Each chapter addresses a different part of Steuart's political economy. The author seeks to assess the significance of Steuart's thought and to explain why his work has so often been dismissed as 'mercantilism' by later readers. Comprehensive in its scope and thorough in its analysis this book will be welcomed by historians of economic thought and by all those interested in the processes behind the evolution of economic ideas and doctrines.