A STUDY ON GENTLEMANLY CAPITALIST SOCIETY AND ENGLISH HISTORICAL ECONOMISTS

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The purpose of this research is to examine how British elites analyzed and appreciated gentle manly capitalist society at the turn of the century. In the tariff reform controversy, English Historical Economists and Liberal Free Traders, debating about history and future of Britain, advocated tariff reform imperialism or free trade imperialism.J.Chamberlain and English historical economists appealed the abandonment of free trade policy and introduction of imperial preference, advocating imperial federation scheme. For they were apprehensive that free trade base of gentlemanly capitalism might transform Industrial Britain into Financial Britain. On the other hand many Liberals supported free trade, arguing that free trade policy was the basis of the prosperity of British economy. H.H.Asquith defended gentlemanly capitalism on the basis of British Free Trade Empire.Liberal Radicals and Cobden Club defended free trade policy as well. They, however, adhered it not from the viewpoint of "financial" but "consumer" interests. For they cared maldistribution of income in gentlemanly capitalism, and therefore had misgivings about the future of British society. Influenced by the advent of New Liberalism they advocated fulfillment of social reform as well as the maintenance of free trade policy. Thus the many-faceted character of gentlemanly capitalism revealed itself through multiple analyses of British contemporaries at the turn of the century.