Commerce and Manners in Edmund Burke’s Political Economy: A Book Event with Gregory Collins

Event Summary

On October 29, a panel of experts discussed “Commerce and Manners in Edmund Burke’s Political Economy” (Cambridge University Press, 2020), a new book by Yale University’s Gregory Collins. Dr. Collins began by outlining the book’s thesis: Edmund Burke supported commercial liberties, but he believed an open economy requires a strong moral and religious fabric to sustain it.

AEI’s Gregory S. Weiner discussed how Burke’s Lockean belief in economic liberalism can be reconciled with his commitment to Aristotelian universals. The Hoover Institution’s Peter Berkowitz explained why Burke’s idea that freedom and tradition are mutually dependent must be defended. Jerry Z. Muller of the Catholic University of America explored why we must distinguish spiritual virtues from commercial virtues in discussing Burke’s views on morality. David Brooks of The New York Times questioned what Burke would make of creative destruction in modern America, which is often corrosive to institutions.

AEI’s Jonah Goldberg discussed how the United States’ success should be understood in Burkean terms. Although the founders abandoned traditions such as primogeniture and nobility titles, they respected Burke’s understanding of what the role of government should be in a land without entrenched aristocracies.

— Guy Denton

Event Description

What would the father of modern conservatism say about today’s global capitalism? Works on Edmund Burke, the 18th-century Irish statesman, tend to revolve around familiar themes: his aesthetic philosophy, Whig politics, and piercing criticism of the French Revolution. But his views on economics have remained curiously understudied.

In “Commerce and Manners in Edmund Burke’s Political Economy” (Cambridge University Press, 2020), Yale University’s Gregory Collins provides a detailed examination of Burke’s economic thought. Drawing from careful analysis of Burke’s speeches, writings, and recently uncovered works, Dr. Collins illuminates Burke’s nuanced reflections on trade, taxation, and empire and their relationship to public prosperity.

Please join AEI for a panel discussion of this important addition to the field of Burke studies and what Burke’s ideas can offer to debates over the ethics of the modern economy.

Event Materials

Gregory M. Collins: “Commerce and Manners in Edmund Burke’s Political Economy”