autarky

Noun

autarky (countable and uncountable, plural autarkies)

1. (uncountable) A personal condition or state of self-reliance; independence.
   • Autarchie, or contentednes, vvhich is a vertue vvhereby vve are contented vvith thoſe things vvhich vve preſently enioy, & haue iuſtly gotten, & meekly ſuffer poverty & other diſcommodities, neither are broken through vvant or penury, nor gape after other mens goods or ſubſtance, nor covet things...1587, Zacharias Ursinus, “Of the Law of God, or, Of the Decalog and Ten Commandements. [The Eight Commandment.]”, in Henry Parry, transl., The Summe of Christian Religion: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire...
   • Let vs rather turne our eyes, to behold and vvonder at the Diuine royalties and endovvments of it, it being in man the principall part of GODS Image, and that by vvhich Man reſembleth moſt the Autarchie and ſelf-ſufficiencie of GOD, vvhich I graunt is proper to his Infiniteneſſe, to be content and...1616 October 30 (Gregorian calendar), Samuel Ward, Balme from Gilead to Recouer Conscience. In a Sermon Preached at Pauls-Crosse, Octob. 20. 1616, London: […] T[homas] S[nodham] for Roger Iackson...
2. (specifically, uncountable) (A policy of) national economic self-sufficiency, aimed at ending reliance on foreign imports to sustain a domestic economy.
   • Selfe-ſufficiencie is the end.] To haue all things, and to vvant or deſire nothing, is Selfe-ſufficiencie, Ariſtot: Polit. Lib. 7. Cap. 5. This autarchie or ſelfe-ſufficiencie, is the end and the good contained in the forme of a Citie, and conſequently is the end of all other ſocieties.1598, Aristotle, “What is a Citie: And that It Consisteth by Nature: And that Man is Naturally a Sociable and Ciuill Creature”, in I. D. [i.e., John Dee], transl., Aristotles Politiques, or...
   • If it were proved that these objects, that is to say prosperity, power, economic independence, could be attained by a policy of effective and complete autarky, there is no doubt that it would soon be carried into effect; […] But be that as it may, autarky does not permit the attainment of the...1938 October 17, Paul van Zeeland, Economics or Politics? A Lecture by Paul van Zeeland, formerly Prime Minister of Belgium […], Cambridge, Cambridgshire: University Press, published 1939, →OCLC...
3. (countable, specifically) A self-sufficient country or region which is not dependent on international trade to function economically.
   • Does this mean that the era of autarkies and of economic nationalism is ended?1948 May 13, Robert Lecourt, “L’Aube (Organ of the Popular Republican Movement)”, in [anonymous], transl., News from France, number 8, New York, N.Y.: Information Division, French Embassy, →OCLC...
   • Local government entities are not autarkies, they don't lead fully independent financial policies, but still they have sufficient flexibility at the municipal level in their investments to be able to quantify and monitor their performance.2013, Piotr Arak et al., “How to Measure the Impact of Public Policies on Human Development?”, in National Human Development Report: Poland 2012: Local and Regional Development, Warsaw: UNDP Project...