Since the inadequacies of the Industrial Revolution remain a key factor in most critiques of capitalism and individual liberty, Education and the Industrial Revolution makes an important contribution to a better understanding of the period. The book provides a challenge to the educational establishment because it contradicts the long-held view that the Industrial Revolution was a disaster and that only government intervention and 'compulsion' brought the joys of education to people. West's investigations unearthed a large and growing market for education going hand in hand with the rise of industrialism and occurring prior to government intervention. By taking on such issues as supposed educational deficiency, market provision, actual literacy rates, theories of educational reform in the nineteenth century, and the realities of educational intervention, West helps us come to a richer understanding of liberty -- one that is little-known today but every bit as relevant as the day it was written.

Adam Smith into the Twenty-First Century examines how Smith's deliberations on constitutional economics can now be tested by current empirical work in the social sciences.Edwin West shows how Smith's scepticism about the proposition that democracy is conducive to economic growth is supported by modern research. Current social science is also shown to support Smith's views that government improves with the expansion of trade and that liberty is strongly associated with growing prosperity. Smith's argument that personal freedom to act should be allowed providing that the "laws of justice" are not violated is compared with J.S. Mill's view that liberty should be allowed except where "harm to others" may thereby be prevented. In Adam Smith into the Twenty-First Century, Professor West argues convincingly that Smith's liberalism is not dead, but is enjoying a revival which will continue into the twenty-first century.

"Education and the State" first appeared in 1965 and was immediately hailed as one of the century's most important works on education. In the thirty years that have followed, the questions this book raised concerning state-run education have grown immeasurably in urgency and intensity. "Education and the State" re-examines the role of government in education and challenges the fundamental statist assumption that the state is best able to provide an education for the general population.West explores the views on education of the nineteenth-century British reformers and classical economists who argued the necessity of state education. He demonstrates that by the Foster Act of 1870 the state system of education was superimposed upon successful private efforts, thereby suppressing an emerging and increasingly robust structure of private, voluntary, and competitive education funded by families, churches, and philanthropies.This new and expanded edition of "Education and the State" addresses the American situation in education, applying the lessons learned from the study of British institutions. It also broadens their application from education to the conduct of democracy as a political system.Edwin G. West is Professor Emeritus of Economics at Carleton University, Ottawa.

"Education and the State" first appeared in 1965 and was immediately hailed as one of the century's most important works on education. In the thirty years that have followed, the questions this book raised concerning state-run education have grown immeasurably in urgency and intensity. "Education and the State" re-examines the role of government in education and challenges the fundamental statist assumption that the state is best able to provide an education for the general population.West explores the views on education of the nineteenth-century British reformers and classical economists who argued the necessity of state education. He demonstrates that by the Foster Act of 1870 the state system of education was superimposed upon successful private efforts, thereby suppressing an emerging and increasingly robust structure of private, voluntary, and competitive education funded by families, churches, and philanthropies.This new and expanded edition of "Education and the State" addresses the American situation in education, applying the lessons learned from the study of British institutions. It also broadens their application from education to the conduct of democracy as a political system.Edwin G. West is Professor Emeritus of Economics at Carleton University, Ottawa.

Since the inadequacies of the Industrial Revolution remain a key factor in most critiques of capitalism and individual liberty, Education and the Industrial Revolution makes an important contribution to a better understanding of the period. The book provides a challenge to the educational establishment because it contradicts the long-held view that the Industrial Revolution was a disaster and that only government intervention and 'compulsion' brought the joys of education to people. West's investigations unearthed a large and growing market for education going hand in hand with the rise of industrialism and occurring prior to government intervention. By taking on such issues as supposed educational deficiency, market provision, actual literacy rates, theories of educational reform in the nineteenth century, and the realities of educational intervention, West helps us come to a richer understanding of liberty -- one that is little-known today but every bit as relevant as the day it was written.