Sir James Steuart on the “Infancy of Banking”: Financial System and Economic Development

Abstract

This chapter examines James Steuart’s explanation of the relationship between banking system and economic development. Unlike other Scottish thinkers of the time, Steuart argues that the origin of commercial nations was not, in his view, a consequence of human nature and a long period of historical evolution. The establishment of the system of trade and commerce that gives rise to a “commercial nation” is conditioned by a series of elements that can render its appearance impossible. This chapter examines how the establishment of the system of trade and commerce that gives rise to a commercial nation is conditioned, according to Steuart, by the development of the banking system. It also broaches Steuart’s explanation of how the banking system functions within a non-commercial nation, which the Scottish author called “the infancy of banking.”

Citation

Menudo, J.M. (2020), "Sir James Steuart on the “Infancy of Banking”: Financial System and Economic Development", Fiorito, L., Scheall, S. and Suprinyak, C.E. (Ed.) Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: Including a Symposium on Sir James Steuart: The Political Economy of Money and Trade (Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology, Vol. 38C), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 71-86. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0743-41542020000038C007