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The Great Depression in Britain, 1873–1896: a Reappraisal*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2011

A. E. Musson
A. E. Musson
Affiliation:
University of Manchester
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Extract

It is nearly a quarter century since H. L. Beales produced his notable article on “The Great Depression.” Since then a great deal of work has been done on that period, especially by economists and statisticians, so that it is now possible to make a fuller assessment of the changes in Britain's economic position during those years. Most of this work has been in the form of specialized articles and books covering longer periods, on such subjects as national income, investment, or terms of trade, and there appears to be a need for some attempt at synthesis, especially as the various interpretations put forward are not always in agreement and are sometimes contradictory. It would be impossible, of course, in a mere article, to settle all the theoretical problems suggested by the facts or to resolve all the divergencies of opinion, but it is worth while to draw the evidence and opinions together in an effort to get a general picture.

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Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , June 1959 , pp. 199 - 228
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1959

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References

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40 , Coppock, “Critical Note,” Manchester School, XXIV (1956), 22Google Scholar.

41 Lewis has pointed out that Britain's failure was a “failure to achieve technological leadership in the new trades, especially in steel, in machinery, and, less important, in chemicals.” “International Competition in Manufactures,” American Economic Review, XLVII (1957), 582. See p. 219 of this articleGoogle Scholar.

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45 Gordon, D. F., “Obsolescence and Technical Change: Comment,” Am. Ec. Rev., XLVI (1956), 650Google Scholar.

46 , Clapham, Economic History, II, 122Google Scholar. There is a very good brief discussion of the causes of Britain's relative decline in the article by W. A. Lewis, “International Competition,” cited above (n. 41).

47 Burn, Economic History of Steelmaking, ch. ix.

48 This view has recently been re-emphasized by Frankel, M., “Obsolescence and Technical Change in a Maturing Economy,” Am. Ec. Rev., XLV (1955), 296–319Google Scholar, and XLVI (1956), 652-56.

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53 , Lewis, “International Competition,” pp. 585–87Google Scholar. Cf. , Clapham, Economic History, III, 52–53Google Scholar, referring to the great capital export boom after 1905. Rostow, on the other hand, suggests that there was too little foreign investment during the Great Depression. See pp. 215-22 of this article.

54 , Cairncross, Home and Foreign Investment, pp. 225–35.Google Scholar.

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78 Comparisons of home and overseas investment are to be found in the works by Douglas, Lenfant, Cairncross, and Thomas, previously cited (nn. 51, 55, 56, 75).

79 Imlah's estimates.

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94 Cf. the effects of cost-reducing mechanization in British industry in the first half of the nineteenth century. The net barter terms of trade deteriorated, but so great was die increase in output and trade that Britain gained considerably. Ashton, T. S., “The Standard of Life of the Workers in England, 1790-1830,” The Journal of Economic History, IX (1949), Supplement, 19–38CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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99 This was true even of industrial Britain by the end of this period. Hirschman, A. O., “The Commodity Structure of World Trade,” Q. f. E., LVII (1943), 565–95CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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101 ibid., p. 16.

102 ibid., pp. 132 and 157.

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104 , Cairncross, Home and Foreign Investment, pp. 190-92Google Scholar.

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106 See p. 217 of this article.

107 , Lewis and , O'Leary, “Secular Swings,” Manchester School, XXIII (1955), 145Google Scholar.

108 Ibid.

109 , Thomas, Migration and Economic Growth, especially ch. viiGoogle Scholar; , Cairncross, Home and Foreign Investment, ch. viiiGoogle Scholar.

110 Industrialization and Foreign Trade, p. 157.

111 ibid., pp. 158-63. See also Memoranda (1903), pp. 7-9, 374-79, 476-91.

112 See p. 223 of this article.

113 Cunningham, W., The Rise and Decline of the Free Trade Movement (London: Clay, 1904), pp. 85–92Google Scholar. For other works on the growth of foreign competition and protection, see p. 227 of this article.

114 Annual Statements of Trade, Statistical Abstracts, Memoranda (1903), Memoranda (1904). These have been analyzed by Schlote, British Overseas Trade.

115 Memoranda (1903), pp. 18-19. Most European countries, the United States, and Canada were listed as protectionist.

116 ibid., pp. 13-27.

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118 Statistical Abstracts.

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120 On this latter point see, for example, the 1886 Royal Commission's Final Report, p. xx, and Gastrell, W. S. H., Our Trade in the World in Relation to Foreign Competition, 1885 to 1895 (London, 1897), ch. iiiGoogle Scholar.

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122 Lewis points out that “Britain equipped herself in the first half of the nineteenth century to sell cotton and railway materials, and she thus got into a rut which unfitted her to sell steel and machinery at the end of the century.” “International Competition,” Am. Ec. Rev., XLVII (1957). 583Google Scholar. This is an oversimplified exaggeration, but contains a substantial element of truth..

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124 Memoranda (1903), pp. 368 and 446-47.

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127 , Clapham, Economic History, III, 2Google Scholar.

128 Memoranda (1904), pp. 437–38Google Scholar; , Clark, Conditions of Economic Progress, pp. 185Google Scholar, 187, and 190.

129 The most important contemporary evidence is contained in the reports of the Royal Commissions on agriculture, 1882 and 1894-97, and in the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal. For general accounts of agriculture in this period, see Ernie, Lord, English Farming, Past and Present (4th ed.; London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1927)Google Scholar, ch. xviii, and , Clapham, Economic History, II, ch. vii; III, ch. iiGoogle Scholar.

130 Royal Commission on Agricultural Depression, Final Report, Part. Papers, 1897, XV (C. 8540), 6Google Scholar.

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135 R. C. on Depression, Final Report (1886), pp. xvii and xixGoogle Scholar.

136 Memoranda (1903), pp. 5–6Google Scholar. See also , Schlote, British Overseas Trade, pp. 66–68Google Scholar.

137 See, for example, Medley, G. W., The Reciprocity Craze (Cobden Club pamphlet; London, 1881)Google Scholar; Farrer, T. H., Free Trade Versus Fair Trade (London, 1885)Google Scholar; Williams, E. E., Made in Germany (London, 1896)Google Scholar. Later historical studies include Cunningham, Rise and Decline of the Free Trade Movement; Fuchs, C. J., Trade Policy of Great Britain and Her Colonies Since 1860 (London: Macmillan, 1905)Google Scholar; Ashley, P., Modern Tariff History (3d ed.; London: Murray, 1920)Google Scholar; Hoffman, R. J. S., Great Britain and the German Trade Rivalry, 1875-1914 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1933)Google Scholar; Brown, B. H., The Tariff Reform Movement in Great Britain, 1881-1895 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1943)Google Scholar.

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139 Memoranda (1903), pp. 417-18 and 427-30.