Australia and the Great Depression: a study of economic development and policy in the 1920's and 1930's

This is a standard account of the economic collapse and slow recovery of the 1930s, a series of events which had a profound effect on Australia's economic and political history. This new edition of the book includes a new preface by the author. The book is notable for its breadth of approach and depth of research. Professor Schedvin combines economic analysis with an account of public policy and social institutions. The nature of the depression in Australia is explained partly in terms of the severity of the international and financial crisis, and partly by the vulnerability of the Australian economy because of the high level of foreign debt. The book reveals parallels with the crisis of the mid 1980s. Frontmatter List of Tables (page ix) List of Figures (page xi) Preface (page xiii) Acknowledgements (page xv) Abbreviations (page xvi) I OUTLINE (page 1) II THE INTERNATIONAL SETTING (page 12) III THE NINETEEN-TWENTIES AND THE DEPRESSION (page 47) IV INSTITUTIONS AND DOGMAS (page 76) V AUSTRALIA AND THE LONDON CAPITAL MARKET, 1927-9 (page 96) VI DRIFT INTO DEPRESSION, 1929 (page 108) VII TOWARDS THE MOBILIZATION AGREEMENT (page 130) VIII THE BALANCE OF PAYMENTS AND DEVALUATION (page 140) IX CRISIS IN GOVERNMENT FINANCE (page 169) X THE FORMATION OF THE PREMIERS' PLAN (page 213) XI MODUS OPERANDI OF THE PLAN (page 256) XII ECONOMICS OF RECOVERY (page 283) XIII RECOVERY POLICY: THE CANONS OF SOUND FINANCE (page 311) XIV DOMESTIC RECOVERY POLICY: PUBLIC WORKS, RELIEF AND WAGES (page 329) XV RECOVERY POLICY: EXTERNAL (page 351) XVI CONCLUSION (page 372) Appendixes (page 379) A. Loan Raising and Stock Prices, 1972-32 (page 380) B. Estimates of the Size of the 'Outside' Exchange Market in the half-year August 1930 to January 1931 (page 383) C. Stock of Money, Proximate Determinants of Money and Velocity (page 384) Bibliography (page 393) Index (page 405) By C.b. Schedvin. First Published: Sydney : Sydney University Press, 1970 Includes Bibliography (p. 394-404) And Index.