Book contents
- Commerce and Manners in Edmund Burke’s Political Economy
- Commerce and Manners in Edmund Burke’s Political Economy
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Biography
- Part II Market Economies
- Part III The British Constitution and Economical Reform
- Part IV Foreign Trade
- Part V India
- 9 Britain’s East India Company, Indian Markets, and Monopoly
- 10 Speech on Fox’s India Bill, Six Mercantile Principles, and the Danger of Political Commerce
- Part VI The French Revolution
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
9 - Britain’s East India Company, Indian Markets, and Monopoly
from Part V - India
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 April 2020
- Commerce and Manners in Edmund Burke’s Political Economy
- Commerce and Manners in Edmund Burke’s Political Economy
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Biography
- Part II Market Economies
- Part III The British Constitution and Economical Reform
- Part IV Foreign Trade
- Part V India
- 9 Britain’s East India Company, Indian Markets, and Monopoly
- 10 Speech on Fox’s India Bill, Six Mercantile Principles, and the Danger of Political Commerce
- Part VI The French Revolution
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Chapter 9 explores Burke’s economic critique of Britain’s East India Company in India. I first outline Burke’s general approval of government trading monopolies, which he defended for opening up new trade routes and promoting commerce in distant lands. I then transition to discussing the Select Committee report that detailed the Company’s pattern of abuse in India, Ninth Report of Select Committee, of which Burke was its primary author. Burke condemned the firm for disrupting the supply and demand laws of the local Indian economy and manipulating the competitive price system. He also criticized the company for using surplus revenue as a means to stimulate trade, rather than use trade as a means to increase revenue. Similarly, I elaborate on Ninth Report’s criticisms of the Company’s monopoly on opium, saltpeter, and salt, which produced destructive economic and social consequences and further exposed the firm’s gross misconduct in India.
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- Information
- Commerce and Manners in Edmund Burke's Political Economy , pp. 347 - 370Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020