Compete vs. Protect, Idealism vs. Pragmatism. Debates on the Crisis of the End of the 19 th Century in Spain

The big agrarian crisis of the 1870s and 1880s hit the Spanish primary sector, unable to compete with overseas production. The slump triggered discussions among Spanish economists and other intellectuals on its causes and potential effects, on the measures of economic policy that the government should adopt to face it, and on the validity of radical liberal tenets which had inspired the economic policy and dominated the panorama of economic thought in Spain until that moment. The crisis became a global topic for discussion, permeating the Spanish public opinion; debates were held in a vast range of institutions (journals, economic and cultural associations, public conferences, the Parliament, etc.). Through an analysis of some of these debates, this paper shows how the economic crisis not only prompted outstanding intertwining controversies on many issues, but also acted as an agent of change in policies and ideas. It significantly contributed to a shift in economic policies, replacing free trade policies established since 1868 with protectionist policies to preserve domestic markets, but also to the definitive decline of doctrinal economic liberalism in Spain and the emergence of an alternative pragmatic liberalism, which accepted some sort of government intervention allegedly to protect social and national interests.