The historical value of this work is not really even found in its effectiveness, nor in the success or failure of the various programs described in it. Just as the Magna Carta was a step forward in the commonly held beliefs about government, so also this, hundreds of years later, promotes a new consideration that changed the commonly held opinions about government. Not only was the government designed to keep the peace, it was also suggested in An Essay Upon Projects that a government has an obligation to its people to help improve the quality of life for its people.
One of the most interesting programs mentioned is the Highway Project, which shows that governments are responsible for the upkeep of roads between their cities and in their towns. This is revolutionary because this shift is looking forward to a technological future that the writer was not imagining when he wrote this. Not only were there not cars yet, the roads were not nearly what they would become. Yet, this is the historical precedent for the modern interstate roads and highways.
A lot of these benefit programs are specifically beneficial to the people who work in speculative businesses like old-timey merchants who were not able to mitigate their risk. The government subsidies that allow assurances are a precedent to modern day business insurance, and the benefit programs (including Pensions) are an indication that the government should begin protecting people from absolute financial disaster, because it is better for the economy that small businesses be able to take thoughtful risks.
