Political Arithmetick is William Petty’s most famous work. In this treatise written between 1672 and 1676 and published in 1690, Petty provides a general assessment of England’s “wealth and strength” based on economic and demographic statistics, and makes a series of comparisons with Holland and France. He also uses his quantitative method of social analysis to promote a number of political, fiscal and economic reforms, aimed at improving the administrative structures of the country and increasing its productive capacity and military power. Petty replicates the approach he had used in the Political Anatomy of Ireland, written in 1671-72, in which he had tried to estimate Ireland’s …
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Citation: Reungoat, Sabine. "Political Arithmetick". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 November 2020 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39166, accessed 23 April 2024.]
