What Is Economic Liberalism?
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Part of the Liberal family.
Definition
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production.
Definition quoted from Wikipedia: Economic liberalism (text available under CC BY-SA 4.0; checked October 20, 2026).
Core ideas
- Private property and free enterprise.
- Free trade.
- Limited economic intervention by the state.
Origins
18th-century political economy.
Associated thinkers and leaders
Adam Smith, David Ricardo
Core ideas, origins and thinkers: Atlas summary.
Where Economic Liberalism sits on the Atlas maps
| Map dimension | Score (0–100) | Position | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economic Collective / planned ↔ Market | 87 | strongly toward market | |
| Social Progressive ↔ Traditional | 33 | toward progressive | |
| Authority Libertarian ↔ Authoritarian | 25 | toward libertarian | |
| National identity Cosmopolitan ↔ Nationalist | 35 | near the center | |
| Foreign policy Non-intervention ↔ Intervention | 40 | near the center |
All nine underlying dimensions
| Dimension | Score | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Economic ownership Collective ownership ↔ Private ownership | 90 | strongly toward private ownership |
| Civil liberties Civil liberty ↔ State restrictions | 33 | toward civil liberty |
| National identity Cosmopolitan ↔ Nationalist | 35 | near the center |
| Social and cultural values Progressive ↔ Traditionalist | 37 | near the center |
| Political governance Democratic ↔ Autocratic | 17 | toward democratic |
| Equality and hierarchy Egalitarian ↔ Hierarchical | 55 | near the center |
| Economic management Free market ↔ State planning | 17 | toward free market |
| Military intervention Non-intervention ↔ Intervention | 40 | near the center |
| Religion and government Secular state ↔ Religious authority | 23 | toward secular state |
These positions are estimates on the Atlas’s nine-dimension scale, produced by running the tradition’s core principles through the same questions and scoring used for test-takers. They are interpretations for comparison, not objective measurements. How scores are made.
Estimated positions on key questions
| Statement | Position | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| A national religious authority should have the power to veto legislation. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| The means of production should ultimately be owned collectively. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Opposition parties should be free to compete in elections. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Central economic planning is preferable to decentralized market decisions. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| People should be free to criticize the government without fear of legal punishment. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Preserving a historic national majority is a legitimate immigration objective. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Same-sex couples should have the same right to marry as opposite-sex couples. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Society works best when established social hierarchies are respected. | Disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Military power should be used proactively when serious external threats are emerging. | Disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| The financial sector should be operated primarily as a public service. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
Related ideologies
Main differences from the closest ideologies
- Compared with Classical Liberalism, Economic Liberalism sits 7 points further toward intervention on the foreign policy dimension.
- Compared with Neoliberalism, Economic Liberalism sits 17 points further toward non-intervention on the foreign policy dimension.
- Compared with Constitutional Liberalism, Economic Liberalism sits 14 points further toward market on the economic dimension.
Figures with the closest estimated positions
Closeness of estimated positions only; this does not mean these people identify with Economic Liberalism.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Economic liberalism
- Wikipedia: Economic Liberalism (Wikipedia search)
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Liberalism
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Environmental Ethics
Position last reviewed: not yet reviewed individually.