The Laissez-Faire Experiment by W Walker Hanlon

The Laissez-Faire Experiment by W Walker Hanlon

Why Britain’s attempt at small government proved unable to cope with the challenges of the modern world In the nineteenth century, as Britain attained a leading economic and political position in Europe, British policymakers embarked on a bold experiment with small and limited government. By the outbreak of the First World War, however, this laissez-faire philosophy of government had been abandoned and the country had taken its first steps toward becoming a modern welfare state. This book tells the story of Britain’s laissez-faire experiment, examining why it was done, how it functioned, and why it was ultimately rejected in favor of a more interventionist form of governance. Blending insights from modern economic theory with a wealth of historical evidence, W. Walker Hanlon traces the slow expansion of government intervention across a broad spectrum of government functions in order to understand why and how Britain gave up on laissez-faire. It was not abandoned because Britain’s leaders lost faith in small government as some have suggested, nor did it collapse under the growing influence of working-class political power. Instead, Britain’s move away from small government was a pragmatic and piecemeal response—by policymakers who often deeply believed in laissez-faire—to the economic forces unleashed by the Industrial Revolution.

W. Walker Hanlon is associate professor of economics and codirector of the Center for Economic History at Northwestern University.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780691213415
ISBN 10	0691213410
Title	The Laissez-Faire Experiment
Author	W Walker Hanlon
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Princeton University Press
Year published	2024-09-10
Number of pages	504
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.