Cobdenism is an

economic ideology An economic ideology is a set of views forming the basis of an ideology on how the economy should run. It differentiates itself from economic theory in being normative rather than just explanatory in its approach, whereas the aim of economic theo ...

(and the associated popular movement) which perceives international

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...

and a non-interventionist foreign policy as the key requirements for prosperity and world peace. It is named after the British statesman and economist

Richard Cobden Richard Cobden (3 June 1804 – 2 April 1865) was an English Radical and Liberal politician, manufacturer, and a campaigner for free trade and peace. He was associated with the Anti-Corn Law League and the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty. As a you ...

and had its heyday of political influence in the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

during the mid-19th century, amidst and after the endeavour to abolish the

Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They wer ...

. Based on Adam Smith's assertion that full employment and economic growth require access to foreign markets, Cobden perceived the expansion of foreign trade as the main means of increasing global prosperity and emphasized the importance of the international division of labour for economic progress. Akin to his ideal of Britain as an industrial society of small cooperating property owners, he believed in an international order of small, independent nations attaining shared prosperity through international trade. As Cobden saw Britain's involvement in empire as an unwelcome distraction of domestic investment into its industrial capacity, his writings became influential in

anti-imperialist Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is a term used in a variety of contexts, usually by nationalist movements who want to secede from a larger polity (usually in the form of an empire, but also in a multi-ethnic so ...

circles, being picked up by e.g. John A. Hobson. Moreover, it influenced the economic thinking of

John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in ...

, who was a staunch adherent of Richard Cobden's theories prior to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, after which he abandoned Cobdenism in favor of "insular capitalism". Rarely used today and already in decline by the end of the 19th century, Cobdenism was revived by some academics during the 1980s to support the liberalization of the British economy.Castorina, C. (1985). “Cobdenism for the 1980s”. ''Economic Affairs'', 5(2), pp. 58–60.

References

{{reflist Schools of economic thought Eponymous political ideologies Non-interventionism

See also

References