Britaniya laissez-faire ta'limotining manbai hisoblanadi va erkin savdoni amalda qo'llagan yagona mamlakat sifatida qaraladi. Britaniya davlat aralashuvisiz yoki juda oz aralashuv bilan rivojlangan yagona davlat sifatida tan olinadi. Biroq, bu haqiqatdan juda uzoq, chunki Britaniya yosh sanoatni himoya qilish tizimini birinchi bo'lib joriy etgan mamlakat edi. Bu chet el raqobatiga to'siqlar qo'yilishini anglatadi, shunda mahalliy kompaniyalar raqobatchisiz rivojlanadi.

Britain is regarded as the fountain of laissez-faire doctrine and the only country to have practised free trade. Britain is regarded as the only nation to have developed with little or no state intervention. However, this cannot be further from the truth since Britain was the first country to establish infant industry protection. This is where obstacles are placed upon foreign competition to ensure domestic companies develop with no competitors.

1721-yilda savdo qonunchiligida amalga oshirilgan islohotni 1907-yilda iqtisodiyot tarixchisi Brisko quyidagicha umumlashtirgan:

The 1721 reform of the mercantile law was summed up by Brisco, an economic historian in 1907:

«ishlab chiqarishlar uyda chet el tayyor mahsulotlaridan himoyalanishi kerak edi; tayyor buyumlarni erkin eksport qilish ta'minlanishi kerak edi; va imkon bo'lsa, mukofot va nafaqa orqali rag'batlantirish berilishi kerak edi».38 Bu xom ashyoga bo'lgan import bojlarining pasaytirilganini, chet el ishlab chiqarilgan tovarlarga bo'lgan bojlarning esa sezilarli darajada oshirilganini anglatardi. Xususan, Britaniya o'z ayrim mustamlakalaridan Britaniya sanoatiga tahdid soladigan hollarda yuqori sifatli tovarlarni import qilishni taqiqladi.

‘manufactures had to be protected at home from foreign finished products; free exportation of finished articles had to be secured; and where possible, encouragement had to be given by bounty and allowance.’38 This meant import duties on raw materials were lowered, duties on foreign manufactured goods were significantly raised. Specifically, Britain banned the imports of superior goods from some of its colonies if they happened to threaten British industries.

1846 yilda Buyuk Britaniyada yuz bergan keyingi katta o'zgarish Don qonunlarining bekor qilinishi bilan bog'liq edi. Bu qonunlar xorijiy arzon don importiga qarshi bojxona tariflari bo'lib, go'yo Britaniya fermerlari va yer egalarini himoya qilish uchun joriy etilgan edi. Biroq bu siyosat qit'ada sanoatlashuv jarayonini to'xtatish maqsadida, Britaniya qishloq xo'jaligi uchun eksport bozorini kengaytirish orqali amalga oshirilgan edi. Erkin savdo rejimiga o'tishga imkon bergan Britaniyaning texnologik ustunligi uzoq muddatli va yuqori bojxona to'siqlari ortida erishilgan edi. Britaniya iqtisodiyotining umumiy liberallashuvi davlat tomonidan qattiq nazorat ostida amalga oshirilgan ish bo'lib, laissez-faire yondashuvi orqali erishilmagan.

The next big change came in 1846 with the repeal of the Corn Laws, which were import tariffs ostensibly designed to protect British farmers and landowners against competition from cheap foreign grain imports. But this was intended to halt the move to industrialization on the continent by enlarging the export market for British agriculture. Britain’s technological lead that enabled the shift to a free trade regime had been achieved behind high and long lasting tariff barriers. The overall liberalisation of the British economy was a highly controlled affair overseen by the state and not achieved through a laissez-faire approach.

Sanoat rag'batlantirish strategiyalaridan foydalangan holda Britaniya 1800-yilda o'z cho'qqisiga yetganida, dunyo bo'ylab boylik izlab dengizlarni kezib yurardi. Bu tajovuzkor mustamlakachilik dasturi Britaniyaning dunyodagi mavqeini mustahkamladi va janglarni hududlar uchun emas, balki chet el bozorlari uchun olib borilanadigan urushga aylantirdi. Aynan shu mustamlakachilik harbiy mashinasi Britaniyaning ilmiy tadqiqotlari, innovatsiyalari, mehnatni tashkil etishning yangi usullari va harbiy strategiyasining katta qismini harakatga keltirdi. Britaniya rivojlanishining manbai sifatida targ'ib qilinadigan liberal qadriyatlar global hukmronlikka erishilganidan keyin paydo bo'ldi. Britaniya global ustunlikka erishgandan keyingina erkin savdoni himoya qila boshladi va bu chet el bozorlariga kirish imkonini berish uchun qilingan edi. Erkin bozorlar, shubhasiz, Britaniya imperiyasini ishga tushirgan omil bo'lmay, balki rivojlanishdan keyin paydo bo'lgan.

With the use of industrial promotion strategies, Britain, when it reached its pinnacle in 1800, was navigating the seas in search of riches around the globe. This programme of aggressive colonisation entrenched Britain’s position in the world and changed battles from being fought for territories to offshore markets. It was this colonial war machine that drove a large chunk of Britain’s scientific research, innovation, new ways of organising labour and military strategy. The liberal values which are trumpeted as the source of Britain’s development arrived after achieving global domination. It was only after Britain achieved global supremacy that it championed free trade and this was to gain access to foreign markets. Free markets most certainly came after development rather than being the catalyst that launched the British Empire.

AQSH ham xuddi shunday tarzda rivojlangan. Faqat Ikkinchi Jahon urushidan keyin AQSH savdoni erkinlashtira boshladi, va bunga sabablarni Kembrij universitetining iqtisodiy tarix bo‘yicha mutaxassisi doktor Djun Chang bayon etgan: “Faqat Ikkinchi Jahon urushidan keyingina AQSH – sanoat ustunligi shubhasiz bo‘lgan holda – nihoyat savdosini erkinlashtirdi va erkin savdo tarafdori sifatida chiqa boshladi.”

US development also occurred in a similar fashion. It wasn’t until after World War 2 that the US began to liberalise trade and the reasons for this was outlined by Dr Joon Change, an expert in economic history at Cambridge ‘it was only after World War 2 that the USA – with its industrial supremacy unchallenged - finally liberalized its trade and started championing the cause of free trade.

Bir marta G'arb mamlakatlari protektsionistik to'siqlar ortida sanoat ustunligini o'rnatgach, ular erkin savdoni targ'ib qilishga moyil bo'ladilar, shunda ergashuvchilarni narvonlarini tepib tashlab, o'z ustunliklarini mustahkamlaydilar. Bu, albatta, 19-asr o'rtalarida Britaniyada shunday bo'lgan va u Yevropada liberallashtirish harakatiga yo'l ochgan edi. Qo'shma Shtatlar yuz yil o'tib xuddi shunday yo'ldan bordi.

Once Western countries establish industrial dominance behind protectionist walls, they tend to advocate free trade in order to kick away the ladder from the followers and consolidate their dominance as was certainly the case for Britain in the mid 19th century which led the liberalisation drive in Europe. The United States followed a similar path a hundred years later.