History of Political Economic Thought

The century from 1848 to 1948 was one of the most transformative and turbulent periods in human history. It witnessed revolutions, imperial expansion, industrialisation, financial panics, global wars, economic depression, and the emergence of competing political and economic ideologies that continue to shape the world today.

This session explores how the world evolved from the upheavals of the Revolutions of 1848 to the reconstruction that followed the Second World War. We will examine the rise of mass industrial capitalism, the acceleration of global trade and finance, and the increasingly pronounced boom-and-bust cycles that culminated in major crises, including the Long Depression of the late nineteenth century, the Panic of 1907, and the Great Depression of the 1930s.

At the geopolitical level, the session traces the rise, apex and gradual decline of the British Empire, which dominated global commerce, naval power, and international finance throughout much of the nineteenth century. We will then examine the forces that shifted economic and political leadership across the Atlantic, laying the foundations for the American Century through industrial scale, financial power, technological innovation, and victory in two world wars.

Central to the discussion is the clash of ideas that emerged in response to the opportunities and disruptions of industrial modernity. We will explore the development of:

• Classical Capitalism, championing private enterprise, markets, and industrial growth.
• Socialism, arising as a critique of inequality, exploitation, and the social consequences of industrial capitalism.
• Georgism, Henry George's influential proposal that economic justice could be achieved through land value taxation while preserving market incentives.
• Keynesianism, developed in response to the failures of orthodox economics during the Great Depression and advocating active government management of demand and employment.
• The early foundations of Monetarism, which challenged Keynesian approaches by emphasizing the central role of money, banking, and monetary stability in economic performance.

The session also examines how economic thought and political power interacted with real-world events, including nationalism, colonialism, labour movements, technological transformation, the First World War, the Russian Revolution, the interwar period, and the Second World War.

By understanding the conflicts, crises, empires, and ideas that shaped this remarkable century, participants will gain deeper insight into the origins of the modern global economy and the intellectual traditions that continue to influence debates about prosperity, inequality, growth, and governance today.

| Join us for a fascinating exploration of a hundred years that reshaped the world and established the foundations of the economic and political order we inhabit today. |
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