Classical economics and the Great Irish Famine:A study in limits

Edward O’Boyle
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Edward O'Boyle ()

Forum for Social Economics, 2006, vol. 35, issue 2, 21-53

Abstract: The Great Irish Famine resulted from two massive failures: the blight that destroyed the potato crop and the non-interventionism of the English government. The first failure, which also occurred in other European countries, was devastating for the Irish who depended on the potato as their main source of nourishment. The second failure was a human failure because English government policy was instructed by classical economics to let the market clear the surplus population from the land and was reinforced by the anti-Irish racism common in England at the time, even among classical economists, notably Nassau Senior and J.S. Mill.

Date: 2006
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DOI: 10.1007/BF02746430

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