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Henry George, Jane Jacobs, and Free Trade
Author(s) -
Boyle David
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/ajes.12102
Subject(s) - george (robot) , meaning (existential) , privilege (computing) , free trade , power (physics) , free market , law , sociology , invisible hand , economics , political science , neoclassical economics , philosophy , art history , history , politics , epistemology , international trade , physics , quantum mechanics
Henry George and Jane Jacobs were both journalists and made a contribution to economics based on their commitment to the original version of free trade, as understood by 19 th ‐century liberals, rather than the late 20 th ‐century version. The distinctive concept of free trade, as originally understood, was as an instrument for small‐scale producers to break up entrenched monopolies and serve the interests of the ordinary citizen. That was how Cobden used it in the debates over the Corn Laws in the 1840s, and how Ruskin, Gesell, Chesterton, and other critics conceived of economic liberation. In debates over free trade in recent decades, that term has come to mean a defense of power and privilege, the exact opposite of the intent of 19 th ‐century liberals. George and Jacobs sought to restore the original meaning by developing theories of development and distribution that would enable the market system to benefit everyone.