economy

• all liberals believe that the economy should be based on private property and private enterprise.
• classical liberals and neo-liberals support Adam Smith’s thesis (that the state should adopt a laissez-faire attitude to the economy),
• modern liberals have more sympathy for the view of John Maynard Keynes (that capitalism requires regular state management to ensure full employment)
• Liberals

  Emphasise the importance of the right to own property as a pathway to individual freedom and prosperity
• Classical liberals and neoliberals

  • Believe in a laissez-faire approach to the economy, with minimal state involvement and a capitalist free market
• Modern liberals

  • Believe that capitalism requires state intervention in order to limit injustices such as poverty
  • Support more state intervention in the economy
• Keynesian economics


  An approach to modern liberal beliefs of state intervention in the economy