ABSTRACT
James Steuart and Charles Davenant shared a similar view that financing wars are a vital issue for a nation and its economy. This chapter examines how Steuart learned from Davenant and how decisive an impact Davenant’s arguments on public revenues and war finance had on Steuart. Davenant and Steuart both used political arithmetic chiefly to reveal the extent, the method, and the influence of war finance – in the same way William Petty used it. The most notable difference between Steuart and Davenant, on the principles of public credit and public finance, was their views on the appropriate method of financing wars and its influence on the economy. Through the perusal of Davenant’s An Essay upon Ways and Means of Supplying the War and Discourses on the Public Revenues, and on the Trade of England, Steuart was able to understand why Davenant opposed to long-term government borrowing at the time he wrote.
