Economics

Economic liberals opposed mercantilist restrictions on economic activity and favored unhampered private enterprise. As industrial capitalism developed in the 19th century, economic liberalism continued to be characterized by a negative attitude toward state authority. The working classes began to suspect that liberalism protected the interests of powerful economic groups, particularly manufacturers, and turned to the political liberalism that was more concerned with their needs–that of the socialist and labor parties. So-called positive liberals, however, advocated positive state action to prevent economic monopoly, abolish poverty, and secure people against the disabilities of sickness, unemployment, and old age.