group of English political economists of the 19th cent., so called because they met at Manchester. Their most outstanding leaders were Richard Cobden and John Bright . Their chief tenet was that the state should interfere as little as possible in economic matters (see laissez-faire ), and they advocated free trade .
Bibliography: See F. W. Hirst, ed., Free Trade and other Fundamental Doctrines of the Manchester School (1903, repr. 1968); W. D. Grampp, The Manchester School of Economics (1960).
