Interwar British liberalism re-founded itself on economics rather than politics

Evidence

The transition in the foundation of liberal argument from politics to economics outlined above found support in Britain from academic economists able to articulate clearly these new foundations. This was first made obvious in the dispute over tariff reform leading up to the 1906 election, when proponents of the “new economics” publicly supported free trade, while those economists who did not—William Cunningham, W. A. S. Hewins, William Ashley—are linked by the skepticism with which they viewed the development of contemporary economic thinking. … Representative of his approach is his collection of essays and articles on the conduct of the economy during World War I and after in which he asserts, in his typically forthright style, that “Modern civilization, nearly all civilization, is based on the principle of making things pleasant for those who please the market and unpleasant for those who fail to do so … ,” adding “… whatever defects this principle may have, it is better than none.” — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 395

Categorization

• DEFINE: Cannan’s formulation that civilization rewards those who please the market is a compact statement of the ‘new economics’ liberal foundation.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 395
• XREF: connects to: Interwar liberal revivalists saw laissez-faire itself as a dogmatic mystique — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 177; Economic liberalism proved separable from democratic political commitments. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 323; British neoliberalism inverted the traditional priority of political over economic freedom — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 154 (+10 more)

Broader Connections

• Economic liberalism defines the political, collapsing the distinction between them #expands (0.78) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 100
• Working-class freedom demanded economic not merely political democracy after World War I #corroborates (0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1667
• Liberalism was born from market governmentality rather than capital’s dominance #qualifies (0.72) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 99
• Classical liberalism prioritized political freedom over economic liberty. #contradicts (0.70) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 391
• Neoliberalism is a caricature of liberalism reduced to a theory of economic organization #expands (0.70) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2121