Economic Growth In France And Britain, 1851-1950 -

This comparative survey of the economic history of France and Britain over a hundred-year period analyzes to what extent current theories effectively explain the growth of these two nations and, conversely, to what extent the experience of the two nations alters or illuminates these same economic theories. A wide variety of interpretations of French and British rates of growth is examined, with special emphasis directed to “single factor” theories of economic development. In a comprehensive, enlightening analysis, the author shows that single factors can stimulate or retard growth, depending upon the intensity of the stimulus on the one hand and the character of the response on the other, and that French and British growth increased or diminished from time to time in ways that are difficult to explain by solitary causes. Charles Kindleberger offers a reminder of the dangerous ease of theorizing without facts or of interpreting facts with too limited theories and he concludes that economic growth is too complex a phenomenon to yield to partial explanations and that a more general approach is required. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1. AN OUTLINE OF FRENCH AND BRITISH ECONOMIC GROWTH SINCE 1851 CHAPTER 2. RESOURCES CHAPTER 3. CAPITAL CHAPTER 4. POPULATION CHAPTER 5. SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF GROWTH CHAPTER 6. ENTREPRENEURSHIP CHAPTER 7. TECHNOLOGY CHAPTER 8. SCALE AND COMPETITION CHAPTER 9. GOVERNMENT CHAPTER 10. AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION CHAPTER 11. URBANIZATION AND REGIONAL BALANCE CHAPTER 12. FOREIGN TRADE CHAPTER 13. LEADING AND LAGGING SECTORS AND INDUSTRIES CHAPTER 14. GROWTH: SYSTEMATIC OR RANDOM? CHAPTER 15. HISTORY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: A SEARCH FOR A METHOD APPENDIX. THE OVERALL DATA ON GROWTH BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX