The economics of James Steuart

355 Pages·2014·2.754 MB·English

by  Steuart, James;Tortajada, Ramón

THE ECONOMICS OF
JAMES STEUART

Sir James Steuart is a pivotal figure in the emergence of classical economics.
His seminal An Inquiry into the Principles of Political Œconomy (1767)
made major contributions to the understanding of such areas as population,
the balance of payments, monetary theory and agricultural policy. This book
addresses all aspects of Steuart’s contribution to economics.
Exploring Steuart’s role in the history of economic thought, contributors:

(cid:127) examine the intellectual context of his work
(cid:127) re-evaluate his influence
(cid:127) offer new analyses of Steuart’s economic thought
(cid:127) discuss the relevance of his ideas to policy issues.

The Economics of James Steuart reveals the particular importance of Steuart’s
work on monetary issues and highlights ways in which he prepared the ground
for a new conception of economic relations. Featuring the work of an
international team of leading scholars, this volume will be essential reading
for those studying or researching the history of economic thought.
Ramón Tortajada is a Professor of Economics at l’Université Pierre Mendès
France, Grenoble, France.
ROUTLEDGE STUDIES IN THE HISTORY
OF ECONOMICS
1 ECONOMICS AS LITERATURE 15 ECONOMIC CAREERS
Willie Henderson Economics and economists in Britain
2 SOCIALISM AND MARGINALISM IN 1930–1970
ECONOMICS 1870–1930 Keith Tribe
Edited by Ian Steedman 16 UNDERSTANDING ‘CLASSICAL’
3 HAYEK’S POLITICAL ECONOMY ECONOMICS
The socio-economics of order Studies in the long-period theory
Steve Fleetwood Heinz Kurz and Neri Salvadori
4 ON THE ORIGINS OF CLASSICAL 17 HISTORY OF ENVIRONMENTAL
ECONOMICS ECONOMIC THOUGHT
Distribution and value from William Petty E.Kula
to Adam Smith 18 ECONOMIC THOUGHT IN
Tony Aspromourgos COMMUNIST AND POST-COMMUNIST
5 THE ECONOMICS OF JOAN EUROPE
ROBINSON Edited by Hans-Jürgen Wagener
Edited by Maria Cristina Marcuzzo, Luigi 19 STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF
Pasinetti and Alesandro Roncaglia FRENCH POLITICAL ECONOMY
6 THE EVOLUTIONIST ECONOMICS OF From Bodin to Walras
LÉONWALRAS Edited by Gilbert Faccarello
Albert Jolink 20 THE ECONOMICS OF JOHN RAE
7 KEYNES AND THE ‘CLASSICS’ Edited by O.F.Hamouda, C.Lee and D.Mair
A study in language, epistemology and 21 KEYNES AND THE NEOCLASSICAL
mistaken identities SYNTHESIS
Michel Verdon Einsteinian versus Newtonian
8 THE HISTORY OF GAME THEORY, macroeconomics
VOL. 1 Teodoro Dario Togati
From the beginnings to 1945 22 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON
Robert W.Dimand and Mary Ann Dimand MACROECONOMICS
9 THE ECONOMICS OF W.S.JEVONS Sixty years after the ‘General Theory’
Sandra Peart Edited by Philippe Fontaine and Albert
Jolink
10 GANDHI’S ECONOMIC THOUGHT
Ajit K Dasgupta 23 THE FOUNDING OF
INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMICS
11 EQUILIBRIUM AND ECONOMIC The leisure class and sovereignty
THEORY Edited by Warren J.Samuels
Edited by Giovanni Caravale
24 TRADITION AND INNOVATION IN
12 AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS IN DEBATE AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS
Edited by Willem Keizer, Bert Tieben and A Mengerian Perspective
Rudy van Zijp Sandye Gloria
13 ANCIENT ECONOMIC THOUGHT 25 MARX’S CONCEPT OF MONEY: THE
Edited by B.B.Price GOD OF COMMODITIES
14 THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF Anitra Nelson
SOCIAL CREDIT AND GUILD 26 THE ECONOMICS OF JAMES
SOCIALISM STEUART
Frances Hutchinson and Brian Burkitt Edited by Ramón Tortajada
THE ECONOMICS OF
JAMES STEUART
Edited by Ramón Tortajada

London and New York
First published 1999
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003.

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

Editorial selection and material © 1999 Ramón Tortajada
Individual contributions © 1999 individual contributors
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
International Conference on Sir James Steuart (1st: 1995: Vizille, France)
The economics of James Steuart/edited by Ramón Tortajada.
p. cm.
A selection of papers presented at the First International Conference on Sir
James Steuart, held September 14–16, 1995 in the Museum of the French
Revolution at the Château de Vizille, Vizille, France
Conference papers simultaneously published in both English and French
editions, the French appearing under the title, “Sir James Steuart et l’économie
politique,” as a special issue of the review Économies et Sociétés, série Œconomia,
11–12, 1998.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-415-15459-6 (alk. paper)
1. Steuart, James, Sir, 1713–1780—Congresses.
2. Economists—Scotland—Congresses. I. Tortajada, Ramón. II. Title.
HB103.S79I57 1995
330.1–dc21 98–35024
CIP

ISBN 0-203-44334-9 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-75158-2 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-15459-6 (Print Edition)
CONTENTS

Notes on contributors ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xvii
Introduction: Sir James Steuart and the Jacobite connection 1
ANDREW S.SKINNER
PART I
Lectures 25
1 Sir James Steuart and Richard Cantillon 27
PETER GROENEWEGEN
2 The difficult reception of James Steuart at the end of the
eighteenth century in France 41
MANUELA ALBERTONE
3 The market economy and social classes in James Steuart
and G.W.F.Hegel 57
DOMINIQUE CABORET
4 Marx’s polemics against Steuart 76
HENRI DENIS
5 The new interpretation of Steuart by Paul Chamley 84
RAGIP EGE
v
CONTENTS
6 On the method of Sir James Steuart’s Principles of Political
Œconomy 102
NOBORU KOBAYASHI
7 Steuart’s method: Aristotelian political economy 121
ROBERT URQUHART
PART II
Markets, money and macroeconomics 137
8 James Steuart: aspects of economic policy 139
ANDREW S.SKINNER
9 James Steuart’s approach to stability of prices and economic
policy: the example of grain prices 151
LAURENT AUGIER AND CHRISTINE THÉRÉ
10 James Steuart: economy and population 169
JEAN-JACQUES GISLAIN
11 Steuart’s theory of money and sovereignty 186
MARIA LUISA PESANTE
12 Steuart on monetary reform and economic development:
his advice for the restoration of the Indian economy 201
WALTER ELTIS
13 Steuart and Smith on banking systems and growth 218
SYLVIE DIATKINE AND MICHEL ROSIER
14 Rate of interest, profit and prices in the economics of
James Steuart 235
RAMÓN TORTAJADA
vi
CONTENTS
15 James Steuart’s Principles as a modern analysis of monetary
economy 253
FARUK ÜLGEN
16 James Steuart’s macroeconomic analysis of money, price
and output 275
HONG-SEOK YANG
Bibliography 297
IANIK MARCIL AND KUNIHIRO WATANABE
Appendix A 318
Appendix B 319
Appendix C 321
Appendix D 322
Appendix E 325
Index 327

vii

CONTRIBUTORS

Manuela Albertone is Associate Professor of Modern History at the
Università di Torino.
Laurent Augier is Assistant Professor at the Université de la Rochelle.
Dominique Caboret is Researcher at the Université de Paris I.
Henri Denis is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the Université de Paris I.
Sylvie Diatkine is Professor of Economics at the Université de Lille I.
Ragip Ege is Professor of Economics at the Université Louis Pasteur,
Strasbourg I.
Walter Eltis is Emeritus Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford and Visiting
Professor of Economics at the University of Reading.
Jean-Jacques Gislain is Assistant Professor at the Université de Nantes.
Peter Groenewegen is Professor of Economics at the University of Sydney.
Noboru Kobayashi is Emeritus Professor and Member of the Academy of
Japan.
Ianik Marcil is Research Assistant and Lecturer at the Université de
Montreal.
Maria Luisa Pesante is Associate Professor in the Methodology of Historical
Research at the Università di Torino.
Michel Rosier is Professor of Economics at the Université de Picardie—Jules
Verne.
Andrew S.Skinner is Emeritus Professor at the University of Glasgow and
Fellow of the British Academy.
Christine Théré is Researcher at the Institut National d’Études
Demographiques.
ix