The Debate on Economic and Social Security in the Late Eighteenth Century: Lessons ofa Road Not Taken

The laissez faire political economy of the late eighteenth century was marked by two sharply opposing views of the relation between social security or insecurity and economic growth: one associated with Adam Smith, Turgot and Condorcet; and another associated with Malthus. The latter school, with its faith in the motivating force of insecurity and fear, has been the more influential in subsequent economic thought. But, contrary to prevailing neoliberal stereotypes, Smith, Turgot and Condorcet had much to say to modern students of economics concerning the necessary and positive relationship between social security and economic development. This essay explores their vision of how to improve the life chances of the disadvantaged.