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Political Economy and the Response to Socialism in Britain, 1870–1914

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

John W. Mason
John W. Mason
Affiliation:
Bournville College of Further Education, Birmingham
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Extract

Political economy suffered a sharp decline in prestige and influence in Britain after 1870. The methods, doctrines and policies of the classical school were called into question by a younger generation of economists, eager to respond positively to the sudden appearance of the ‘ social problem’ in politics. The most dramatic break with the old school took place in the sphere of policy, where the link between laissez-faire and political economy was severed. Economists such as Jevons, Cairnes, Sidgwick, Toynbee and Marshall led the assault on the orthodox school.1 Unfortunately, the very success of their attack has conditioned historians to assume that they spoke for all their generation. Such was not the case. Below the level of the leading academic economists and liberal social reformers a strong current of opinion ran in the opposite direction; it feared the growth of socialism and looked to a re-juvenated ‘science’ of political economy as the only counterpoise to it.

Type
Articles
Information
The Historical Journal , Volume 23 , Issue 3 , September 1980 , pp. 565 - 587
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

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References

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