How did early colonial Australians think about liberalism, economics and political economy more generally? Colonial Australia has been described variously as having a neoclassical, enlightenment, or Benthamite political culture. This paper provides an empirical approach to the question of early...

Adam Smith proposed three contradictory theories of the British Empire in the Wealth of Nations. The first view holds that the empire was created for merchants eager to monopolize the colonial trade. Smith concludes that “Great Britain derives nothing but loss” from the colonies. In the...