A deliberate mistake?

For one thing, human constants have to be considered. When Walter Bagehot, the founding editor of The Economist, reflected on the role of the “English Political Economy” shortly before his untimely passing in 1877, he emphasized first how this economic philosophy had brought unprecedented benefits to the people, writing: “The life of almost everyone in England – perhaps of everyone – is different and better in consequence of it.” His second comment, however, was that this English Political Economy was – in his day and age – an insular science, one that was neither greatly appreciated elsewhere, nor one that was broadly applied.   What Bagehot called the English Political Economy entailed a novel theory of free trade, which he classified as “more opposed to the action of government in all ways than most such theories,” and prone to not find favor among pro-state zealots (or our latter day populists).