The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

1972 IS FREE ENTERPRISE COMING BACK? 603its subsequent economic crISIS.Part of the problem also was thisunfortunate Poor Law, as will beobvious as we examine its economicconsequences.Renewed Interest in FreedomPerhaps it .was too much to expectanything very constructiveto come out of those long wearyyears of war; but with the returnof peace Adam Smith's ideas beganto be taken seriously oncemore, not just by intellectuals butby practical businessmen, too. In1820, groups of merchants andmanufacturers in both London andEdinburgh petitioned Parlia~entto remove the many restrictions ontrade. A special committee appointedby the House of Commonsto study the problem found elevenhundred regulations which hamperedtrade in various ways andrecommended that they be abolished.While this was not doneinstantly, there were several reciprocaltrade agreements negotiatedwith the neighbors in thenext few years. Western Europewas definitely moving in the directionof greater freedom.Another problem that sorelyneeded attention in the postwarera was the hopelessly tangledlabor situation. Ever since theSpeenhamland welfare programwas devised in 1795, England hadsunk deeper and deeper in a hopelessquagmire. I have found nowriter, left or right, who has hadanything good to say for this PoorLaw, although most everyoneseems to have favored it at its inception.Polanyi, an avowed Socialist,expresses amazement thatany laborer would work at all whenhe could get along quite as wellwithout doing so. Evidently, someoneworked a little. In practice,great numbers of laborers did alittle work for an inadequate· paycheck which was supplemented bywelfare payments, as we wouldcall them. In fact, the employerexpected his help to be on the poorrates because he didn't expect topay them a living wage; neither didhis laborers plan on doing a fairday's work for. him.The consequence of such a systemwas almost .universal pauperization.Says Polanyi, "In the longrun the result was ghastly," andhe allows that at least part of thehuman and social degradation of