Replies

England in the 19th century was the fount of the industrial revolution and became the trading powerhouse of the world based on actual Free Trade. When the government got back into the act and socialism became all the rage England declined. Unlike socialism, Free Trade does have examples of success. Countries prosper in direct proportion to their level of freedom of trade Government intervention is bad for trade and for industry. Period. No exceptions. Government picking of winners and losers and taxing and regulating business gives something like the Mercantilism of the 17th and 18th centuries. It makes an elite favored by the government and politicians rich. The name for it now is Crony Capitalism and it is exemplified by the Clinton machinations and agreements like NAFTA.

There is a philosophy that believes that trade must be managed and taxed for social purposes and to guide prosperity. They are called Progressives or Socialists or Liberals. A tariff in the light of an existing major tax structure i.e. the Income Tax is no more than government intervention in business.

England had no “free trade” in the 1800s.

From “ENGLAND UNDER FREE TRADE, AN ADDRESS
DELIVERED TO THE SHEFFIELD JUNIOR LIBERAL
ASSOCIATION, 8th NOVEMBER, 1881.BY GEORGE W. MEDLEY.”

“But, before we proceed further, let us define what we mean by the term Free Trade as just used. In the abstract, Free Trade may be defined as that state of affairs in which the nations exchange with each other their various products untrammelled by hostile and prohibitory tariffs. Protection, on the other hand, is that state of affairs in which the nations are hindered from this free exchange by tariffs imposed for that special purpose.

Well, we all know that Free Trade as thus defined does not exist. We are said to be living under Free Trade, but in a strict sense that is not so. We are living under a system in which our imports alone are free; our exports to some of the principal markets not being free. It is only as regards our imports that we enjoy perfect freedom; and it is for this reason that the present régime has been called Onesided Free Trade. It will now be our task to inquire whether this has been, as regards our national welfare, a success or a failure.”

https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/England_under_free_trade

Perhaps you were thinking of a different England?