Benefiting the people
The primary theme that ties this essay together is that all its constituent parts are designed around a central idea, which is to improve the quality of life for the citizens of England by using government resources in a creative and responsible way. The problems that stop English people from thriving are addressed and ideas are posited about various ways that some of those problems could be fixed, by allowing bankruptcy, by giving assurances, by allowing people access to higher education, by fixing roads and banks, etc.
Emergency financial assistance
One major theme that recurs in the work is that people's lives can be ruined suddenly by bad news or by poor circumstances, and Defoe suggests that it would be in benefit of the whole nation that those risks and catastrophes are mitigated, especially when businesses are killed off by unfortunate circumstances. He suggests financial assurances for growing businesses, as well as improving benefits for merchants, and even offering pension programs through the government.
Investing in merchants and education
With as wide and broad as a community can be, government programs have to focus their efforts on what will maximize their return on investment. For this, Defoe isolates growing merchant companies and higher education. He feels that education is a valuable investment for government support, because the people who are educated will benefit the economy more effectively and successfully. Likewise, successful merchants benefit the economy by definition, so government programs that help them mitigate risk are also worthwhile investments, he says.
