Assume, just for a moment, that Eric Williams is correct

A book of unpalatable truths about Britain’s slave trade has become a UK bestseller, almost 80 years after author Eric Williams was told by a British publisher: “I would never publish such a book, for it would be contrary to the British tradition.”

We have to say that we just don’t find anything unpalatable about the base thesis:

His thesis was that slavery just became economically unviable, and that the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 was driven more by the Industrial Revolution changing the way that Britain did business rather than any moral desire to stop the practice of slavery in its colonies.

Capitalism and markets lead to the freedom of millions upon millions of people.

We fail to see anything unpalatable, or even contrary to British tradition, about that. Even, we think that’s something worth celebrating. Possibly, something worth keeping in mind as we attempt to craft current economic and political policy.

You know, it worked, why won’t it work now?