The Scottish Enlightenment and the Modern World
We now take for granted the normality of economic growth, that is, of quantitative growth in output, population and other economic variables, and of what we might call economic development, meaning qualitative and structural change over time involving changing institutions and changing products and methods of production.
It was the Scots of the Enlightenment who first taught us to think in this way. The four stages theory was, perhaps, of little practical value but it provided a very long-run framework for thought. Hume’s account of development provided a causal analysis, in which changing “manners” and opportunities led to the development of a commercial society, and it also defused some of the political and moral fear of luxury and commerce, which still existed in the eighteenth century. Smith had the greatest impact - the Wealth of Nations remained standard reading for a century or more. He was able to combine Hume’s qualitative and historical approach with a quantitative theory of growth driven by continued accumulation and hence by saving. The missing element in Smith is a full appreciation of the importance of technical change. Ferguson had pointed the way, but without winning over the mainstream.Anthony Brewer
See also:
David Hume (I); French Enlightenment (II); Italian Enlightenment (II); Adam Smith (I); James Steuart [James Denham-Steuart] (I).