Capital formation plays a large part in any evaluation of economic growth and decline. In recent years the provision of capital in the British industrial revolution has received renewed attention. This interest arises out of attempts to trace the course and explain the progress of the pioneer industrializing country; to assess the reasons for Britain's subsequent loss of economic pre-eminence; and to explain the process of industrialization in a general way, inparticular on behalf of countries which are in the midst of this process today.The debate has been largely theoretical because of the lack of reliable data for the period prior to 1850, and up-to-date estimates for the period thereafter. This book seeks to remedy this lack. Part I, based largely on archival and other primary sources, contains detailed studies of the amount of capital invested in the main sectors of the economy (coal mining, agriculture, textiles, roads and waterways) from 1750-1850. Part II provides for the first time a comprehensive set of estimatescompiled on a consistent basis for the entire period from 1750-1920. It thus provides the foundation for a full study of capital accumulation in Britain from the industrial revolution to the First World War.
Format:
CONTRIBUTORS: Charles H. Feinstein, Sidney Pollard
EAN: 9780198284086
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
PAGES:
WEIGHT: 951 g
HEIGHT: 242 cm
PUBLISHED BY: Oxford University Press
DATE PUBLISHED: 1988-03-10
CITY:
GENRE: BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Economic History, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Finance / General, HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / General
WIDTH: 131 cm
SPINE:
Book Themes:
United Kingdom, Great Britain, 18th century, c 1700 to c 1799, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, Monetary economics, Economic history, Investment and securities
`Clearly, this collection makes a major contribution to our knowledge of the quantitative features of the British economy in that epoch.'
Economic History Review, 'The book contains a wealth of intriguing facts for the business historian.'
Christopher Clay, University of Bristol, Business History, 'Feinstein is an extremely careful researcher, deploying not only statistical expertise, but wide reading around his data.'
Maxine Berg, University of Warwick, Journal of Historical Geography, 'It is an invaluable collection of material and will serve as a major source of reference for many years to come.'
Derek H. Aldcroft, University of Leicester, History No. 243 Feb 1990, 'a comprehensive and highly specialized collection of essays ... Economic historians will marvel at the technical excellence of the volume and be forever beholden for data generated.'
British Book News, March 1991
