British theater became big business in the nineteenth century, and the role of laissez-faire in this cultural industry consistently troubled the government. This is the first full-length study to investigate the theater's growth from an economic perspective, reflecting the debates of theorists from Adam Smith to Alfred Marshall. Tracy Davis' wide-ranging analysis grounds issues such as subsidization and the economic viability of the live arts in an era predating government funding, offering fresh insight into the history of cultural policy for the arts in Britain.