The new liberalism: North and Hume

David Reisman ()

Chapter 10 in Mercantilism, 2025, pp 155-164 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: By the early eighteenth century mercantilism was in competition with a new emphasis on individual choice. North and Hume were leading exponents of the new outlook that would culminate in Adam Smith. The balance of trade objective was felt to be inconsistent with the quantity theory of money and the automatic self-stabilising mechanism. Money was not the objective of economic policy. State intervention should be limited as the national goal of prosperity was better served by individual liberty. Both saving and consuming had a role in economic progress. The backward-bending supply curve of labour was being challenged by the new interest in ambition and acquisitiveness. Hume's recognition of lags and forced savings ended the intellectual dichotomy between real and nominal variables.

Keywords: Free markets; Automatic stabilisation; Monetary and real sector; Interest; Ambition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035347650
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