Summaries and conclusion

At the end of ‘the Financial Revolution’, Hume predicted that Britain would suffer from growing public debt, indicating no concrete way out of the fiscal crisis. The mission – to establish the political economy of public finance – was left to Hume’s successors, who were interested in the growth of liberal and commercial society. This book has examined seven authors who took up the challenge. Let us summarize and compare their opinions on three subjects: (1) management of government expenditure; (2) a fair and efficient system of taxation; and (3) debt management. A general conclusion will follow these summaries.