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The Laissez-Faire Experiment: Why Britain Embraced and Then Abandoned Small Government, 1800–1914
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.
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.
504 pages, Hardcover
Published September 10, 2024
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January 27, 2025
'The forms of state intervention that were adopted in the second half of the nineteenth century are, in almost all cases, still with us today. In almost all cases, the intent behind these policies was to deal with specific shortcomings that appeared in a laissez-faire system, in order to help make the market economy to achieve more efficient outcomes. They, aimed, in other words, to strengthen markets. Today, layered on top of these efficiency intervention is a set of more recently adopted policies of an explicitly redistributive character. Understanding the motivations for, and effectiveness of, those equity-focused policies is outside the scope of this book. However, it is important not to conflate the two distinct approaches to government intervention. In particular, we should recognize that the lessons drawn from analyzing policies focused primarily on improving efficiency will not necessarily carry over to discussions of policies that instead aim mainly to shape equality.'
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'The emergence of mass conscript armies in the nineteenth century provided an important impetus for the expansion of government services to poorer segments of the population, first on the Continent and later in Britain. However, since roughly the middle of the twentieth century, these trends have reversed, as conscription systems have been eliminated in favor of highly skilled professional volunteer militaries. While this process is still playing out - and the current conflict in Ukraine suggests that large-scale conscript armies may be far from obsolete - if changes in military technology lead to a decisive shift toward smaller highly trained professional militaries, there is reason to expect that this trend will also affect the nature of the relationship between the state and the people.'
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'The emergence of mass conscript armies in the nineteenth century provided an important impetus for the expansion of government services to poorer segments of the population, first on the Continent and later in Britain. However, since roughly the middle of the twentieth century, these trends have reversed, as conscription systems have been eliminated in favor of highly skilled professional volunteer militaries. While this process is still playing out - and the current conflict in Ukraine suggests that large-scale conscript armies may be far from obsolete - if changes in military technology lead to a decisive shift toward smaller highly trained professional militaries, there is reason to expect that this trend will also affect the nature of the relationship between the state and the people.'
Displaying 1 of 1 review