1. The point discussed in Chapter 2, Footnote 16.
2. There is debate between h is to ria n s on th is . Against the view se t out here may be opposed the ’McDona^ th e s ia * , th a t the reform s, a lth o u ^ owing
something to u t i l i t a r i a n thought, were b a sic a lly fu e lle d in s titu tio n a lly , and th a t the s e ttin g up of in sp e cto rates to manage the f i r s t few acted as a spur to fu rth e r reforms*
This statem ent does n o t, of course, exclude the p o s s ib ility th a t events beyond the range of N ineteenth Century le g is la tio n m i^ t have brought
g reater misery to g re a te r numbers* Booth's rep o rt on conditions in London a t the tu rn of the century was one fa c to r co n trib u tin g to the disappearance of what some have described as N ineteenth Century complacency*
4. This was the case considered b rie fly in the Introduction*
5* But even U tilita r ia n th e o ris ts recognised th a t "pain counts fo r more than p leasu re", and one school developed the point to the .ex ten t of su b s titu tin g "minimise pain" fo r e ith e r "maximise happiness" or "achieve the g re a te st balance of pleasure over pain" *
6. The ' exemplify th is view* Because they thought w ealth was fix ed , they thought th a t one country could only become ric h e r i f others became poorer* Their p o lic ie s (holding sway in F if t e e n t h Century France in p a rtic u la r) were thus designed to maximise to ta l w ealth inflow ing, and to minimise to ta l w ealth outflow ing ~ even i f th is unknowingly stunted economic growth. T heir concern was w ith an increased share of what they th o u ^ t was a constant tra d e , ra th e r than w ith a constant share of an in creasin g tra d e . Events of the past decade in B rita in have made i t
. c le a r th a t ' ' has by no means disappeared from modem economic
thought,
7o In the example given, i t is assumed th a t no buyer or s e lle r commands a
share of the market large enough to influence personally a ffe c t the outcome, 8, A lte rn a tiv e ly , the im position by law of a price c e ilin g in times of
sc a rc ity w ill mean th a t e x tra resources w ill not be committed to supply, and a llo c a tio n of the scarce commodity must be by some form of ra tio n in g o th er than p ric in g ( i t s e l f a form of ra tio n in g ),
9, I t should be understood th a t the term "com petitive market economy" is not used to denote any economy which has, in f a c t, e x isted . I t is a th e o re tic a l model. I t does not rep resen t a s itu a tio n which can be expected to a ris e w ithout p o litic a l in te rv e n tio n , because th ere are economic forces which,
i f l e f t alone, m ilita te ag ain st com petition. I f ever a fre e market
economy has occurred, the p ro b a b ilitie s are tliat i t did. so by chance, and th a t i t was sh o rt-liv e d . To e s ta b lis h and m aintain a com petitive market economy would require considerable and constant ap p licatio n of governmental power; power which our so c ie tie s have n o t seen a p p lie d .to th a t end,
10, I t i s im portant th a t monopolies of labour are not omitted from the d efects of la is s e z -fa ire s itu a tio n s . While monopolies of c a p ita l or of commodities might arouse most opposition, the a c tiv itie s of powerful trad es unions can achieve a monopoly of labour f a r more complete in i t s e ffe c tiv e n e ss, and a t le a s t as damaging in i t s consequences.
158
Chapter .8
TESTING AND SOCIAL PROGRESS
"A th in g may look speciouë in theory, and y et he ruinous in
p ractice I a th in g may look e v il in theory, and yet be in p ractice e x c e lle n t," « Edmund Burkes ’Speech in Parliam ent during the Impeachment of Warren Hastings*