WASHINGTON ¨C The Economist magazine is marking its 175th birthday with a special issue that looks back on its history and speculates about the future. It is a sobering exercise, highlighting the present breakdown in the world¡¯s political order, a collapse made worse by U.S. President Donald Trump but not caused by him.
When the magazine was founded in 1843 by James Wilson, a Scottish hatmaker, the British were locked in a bitter debate over the ¡°corn laws¡± ¡ª tariffs on grain (¡°corn¡°) imports. On the one side was a ¡°mass movement ... [of] well-to-do liberal thinkers and progressive businessmen [and] the poor.¡± On the other were landowners, defending tariffs that ¡°kept up the price of grain.¡±
The repeal of the tariffs in 1846 marked a huge victory for the then-concept of ¡°liberalism,¡± which ¡ª far from favoring bigger and more powerful government ¡ª championed ¡°free trade, free markets and limited government,¡± notes the magazine.
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