Laissez Faire And The Irish Great Famine

Right wing libertarian politics have never really caught on in Ireland. Part of this is due to the memory of the Great Famine of 1845-8. The Famine, though caused by blight, was made worse by the prevailing conservative doctrine of laissez faire. This was the prime example of politicians believing the free market will solve everything, that it would be unethical for the government to intervene and that helping the poor would only make them lazy and dependent. This was an experiment of a world with only minimal government, of free market principles in practice, the result was so disastrous that a million people died. The normal market is governed by supply and demand. Goods are sold to whoever will … Continue reading “Laissez Faire And The Irish Great Famine”

August 25, 2012Economics1845, Economics, Gorta Mor, Great Famine, Great Hunger, History, Ireland, Laissez Faire, Neo-Classical, Politics Leave a comment