"[T]here has been a popular exaggeration of the supposed benefits of empire.

"[T]here has been a popular exaggeration of the supposed benefits of empire. Paddy O’Brien who held the Readership in Economic History in Oxford and then a chair at the London School of Economics ... concluded in 1988 that though many individuals made gains from the empire, ‘the massive public expenditure upon the apparatus of imperial rule and defence was neither sufficient nor necessary for the growth of the [British] economy from 1846 to 1914.' The great Adam Smith told everyone this in the 'Wealth of Nations', published in 1776."

~ Lawrence Goldman, from his post 'Empire, the Slave Trade, and Britain’s Wealth: A Reply to Will Hutton in The Guardian'