CAIRNES, JOHN ELLIOTT

born Dec. 26, 1823, Castle Bellingham, County Louth, Ire. died July 8, 1875, London, Eng. Irish classical economist who restated most of that school's doctrines in his last and largest work, Some Leading Principles of Political Economy Newly Expounded (1874). Cairnes was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he later became professor of political economy (185661). He subsequently held chairs in political economy at Queen's College, Galway (186166), and at University College, London (186672). In his first book, The Character and Logical Method of Political Economy (1857), Cairnes emphasized the abstract deductive nature of classical political economy and advocated its scientific neutrality as between different policies and political principles. His Essays on the Gold Question (published in Essays in Political Economy, 1873) are considered among the most important 19th-century works on monetary theory. They dealt with the effects of the discoveries of gold in Australia and California. His book The Slave Power (1862 and 1863) examined the inherent disadvantages of slave labour and considerably influenced British opinion in favour of the North in the American Civil War (186165). He is also remembered for his concept of noncompeting groups, particularly in the labour market, which foreshadowed the more systematic modern treatment of imperfect competitive and quasi-monopolistic conditions.