Commerce, markets, and peace: Richard Cobden's enduring lessons

Edward Stringham

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: Do capitalism and conflicts go hand in hand? Are the military and markets complements? Indeed, many conservative advocates of markets also passionately support the military, and many people who oppose war also oppose markets. Nineteenth-century writer Richard Cobden, however, maintained that the military and markets were substitutes: more military entails less market. Although the ideas in The Political Writings of Richard Cobden (1903) are a century and a half old, Cobden considered many arguments for military intervention still made today. He discussed whether military spending was beneficial to the economy, to commerce, and to peace, and in all three cases he answered no. Both conservatives and left liberals can learn much from Cobden’s discussion of commerce, markets, and peace. As he demonstrated, the advocate of markets must be an advocate of peace.

Keywords: political economy of trade; political economy of war; classical liberal thought (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B31 H56 N43 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004
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Published in Independent Review 1.9(2004): pp. 543-549

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