Black economic well-being since the 1950s

Conclusion Industrial cities like Cleveland and Pittsburgh that once offered manufacturing jobs as a route to economic advancement no longer provide an economic environment conducive to long-run gains in black incomes. Faced with massive losses in blue-collar manufacturing jobs in the 1970s and 1980s — as well as growing local government fiscal difficulties — these cities are changing rapidly in character. Administration and management are more and more the dynamic, expanding sector, and the resultant demands for workers have been concentrated in the white-collar fields. Highly educated blacks benefit from these trends in job availability; the less educated lose ground economically. The swing between widespread progress (as in World War II) and widespread regression in relative economic status (as in the 1930s) was the traditional cyclical fate of the overall urban black population. Today the smaller white-collar group prospers while the larger blue-collar urban black work force is undermined, except in periods of labor shortage.     

Egypt's economic relations with the socialist countries

The economic relations between Egypt and the socialist countries (1948-73) are discussed and appraised in the context of the political, economic and historical factors which brought them about and maintained them. It is argued that, because of special circumstances, Egypt had little choice but to develop close economic ties with the Soviet bloc. Bilateral trade has known disadvantages; the USSR, however, links trade with generous credit-an attractive feature for LDCs suffering from chronic balance-of-payments deficits. Other advantages and costs of bilateral trade are also discussed. The paper includes comments on Soviet development assistance. A main theme is that Egypt, considering the restrictions imposed on her options by the polarization of the Arab-Israeli conflict, fared well in the relationship. Export and import prices in bilateral agreements seem to have corresponded to world prices, often with a premium in Egypt's favour. Egypt also benefited from a large inflow of resources and from a significant contribution to domestic capital formation.     

Bangladesh's trade and economic relations with the socialist countries

After her independence in 1971, the economic relations between Bangladesh and the European socialist countries developed to a greater extent than before. But the socialist countries still remain relatively small trading partners of Bangladesh. Their share in the total aid received by the heavily aid-dependent Bangladesh has also not been very great. It is not possible to arrive at any precise estimate of the terms of trade and aid between Bangladesh and the socialist countries, but some rudimentary measurements show that they are unlikely to have been very different from those between Bangladesh and the rest of the world.     

Migration at the multi-level intersection of industrial relations: the Schleswig-Holstein Campaign and the Swedish garment industry in the early 1950s

This article deals with the so-called Schleswig-Holstein campaign, whereby about 800 – mostly female – young Germans arrived in Sweden in 1950–1951. The campaign was a German initiative, emphasising vocational training for young and unemployed refugees and expellees, even though it ended up in a more pragmatic labour recruitment. Firstly, the article investigates the international relationship between West German and Swedish labour-market authorities, and secondly, it concentrates on industrial relations in the Swedish garment industry. Thirdly, on local level it focuses on the streamlined clothing factory Algots in Borås. Thereby, the article deals with the mutual interplay between migration and industrial relations. It clarifies how industrial relations on different levels of society intersected and reciprocally moulded a framework for the actors involved in the migration process. Contrariwise, the article illuminates how the campaign affected the industrial relations. It also observes to what extent perceptions of gender, age, ethnicity, and class among the actors involved influenced their argumentation and agency.     

Growth in economic relations of China and India with the GCC countries

The oil‐rich Arab countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have rapidly expanded their economic relations with Asian countries recently, particularly China and India. The main reason behind this development is that the regions complement each other in several dimensions. China and India are the fastest‐growing, oil‐consuming nations in the world, while GCC countries have the largest proven deposits of oil and gas. The GCC is interested in China and India as reliable oil customers over the long‐run and the latter look at the GCC as reliable suppliers of oil and gas. The two regions are also attracted to each other because both are enjoying strong economic growth and offer many investment opportunities to the other. It is expected that GCC economic relations with China and India will grow stronger in the coming decades and serve as a good example of South–South economic cooperation for other developing countries.     

Norway's liberalisation of trade and payments in the 1950s

Abstract

While historical scholarship has focused on the domestic macroeconomic adjustment to trade liberalisation of the 1950s in terms of fiscal, monetary and incomes policies, this study deals with the liberalisation itself. From the perspective of the domestic political economy it provides an account of Norway's policies towards the European trade and payments schemes. It argues that although national ambitions were constrained by multilateral European liberalisation, a successful policy mix of exploiting EPU credits, delaying import quota liberalisation and selectively raising tariffs was pursued. It also argues that the government's sympathy towards the stillborn Nordic customs union in 1954 originated in this policy mix.     

Anglo-Swedish economic relations and the crisis of 1857

Abstract

The British Parliamentary committee appointed to inquire into the causes of the financial panic of 1857 drew attention to three sets of circumstances which in its view had combined to bring about the crisis in England: an unprecedented increase in foreign trade, an excessive importation of precious metals, a monstrous development of the credit system.¹ Of these factors it is the expansion of credit that has received the largest share of attention. In particular it has been said that British exports to the countries of Northern Europe were encouraged by a system of excessive credit.     

The Evolution of Australian Monetary Policy in the 1950s

The 1950s in Australia was a decade of major change in both central banking and the financial system. The changes fed upon one another: financial innovation responded to monetary policy; the authorities adapted their strategy in response. The private banks resisted the harnessing of their balance sheets to policy, and a protracted process of conflict and compromise unfolded. Meanwhile, the growth of non‐bank financial institutions undermined bank‐centred policy. Official controls on bank interest rates opened a space for the new intermediaries. The central bank's attempt to restrain their growth contributed to a credit squeeze at the turn of the 1960s.     

A survey of economic thought in Sweden, 1875–1950

Abstract

My subject is the economic debate in Sweden during the last seventy-five years. Though that must not be taken as being synonomous with the debate in the Stockholm Economic Society, what I have to say is largely based on a study of the Society's transactions. The printed proceedings cover all years except the first; those of the first year, that of the Society's foundation, have never been printed and, if ever recorded, that record must now be lost. Even without that year, however, the row of printed volumes makes an impressive and informative series.     

中国的崛起与对日关系

中国的崛起使中日关系产生了某些新的竞争因素,但更为日本和中日关系的发展提供了重要机会。本文深入分析了中国的崛起在经济、安全、文化交流等领域对于日本以及中日关系的积极影响,从而为中国在争取实现和平崛起的过程中正确处理对日关系,提供了一个侧面的思考依据。     

Consumer confidence and economic stagnation in Japan

This paper examines whether self-fulfilling expectations could have been the cause of the economic stagnation experienced by Japan in the 1990s. A real business cycle model with indeterminacy of equilibria and variable capital utilization is used to simulate the economy of Japan. Driven solely by expectation shocks, the model can replicate the economic bubble that occurred in the late 1980s and the prolonged slowdown that occurred in the 1990s. These results suggest that expectations should not be excluded as a possible source of Japan's recent economic difficulties.     

Zombie firms and economic stagnation in Japan

It is often claimed that one contributing factor to Japan's weak economic performance over the past decade is that Japanese banks have continued to provide financial support for highly inefficient, debt-ridden companies, commonly referred to as ‘zombie’ firms. Such poor banking practices in turn prevent more productive companies from gaining market share, strangling a potentially important source of productivity gains for the overall economy. To explore further the zombie-firm hypothesis, we use industry- and firm-level Japanese data and find evidence that productivity growth is low in industries reputed to have heavy concentrations of zombie firms. We also find that the reallocation of market share is going in the wrong direction in these industries, adding to already weak productivity performance. In addition, we find evidence that financial support from Japanese banks may have played a role in sustaining this perverse reallocation of market share.

Iceland,OEEC and the trade liberalisation of the 1950s

Abstract

While Western Europe was experiencing a trade boom and adopting a more liberal economic framework during the 1950s, Iceland was moving in the opposite direction. External trade was historically at its lowest point and its external economic policy was characterized by extreme caution towards European cooperation and integration. Iceland's commitment to a more open economy and closer economic integration with Europe was at best half-hearted as her participation in the OEEC's Trade Liberalisation Program (TLP) clearly demonstrates. This article examines Iceland's external economic relations between 1945 and 1960 with particular emphasis on the TLP. It seeks to explain why Iceland, so highly dependent on strong ties with the outside world, chose to cling to protectionism longer than most Western European countries. It is argued that the external shock caused by the war, creating an artificial economy internally and the overvaluation of the krona, made adjustment to peacetime circumstances extremely difficult. The task was made harder by a public policy prioritizing on growth and investment rather than balanced macroeconomic management. Last but not least, Iceland's commercial interests were not easily reconcilable with those of the other members of the OEEC because of her special pattern of trade.     

1950年代～1970年代海南西部人口-聚落关系研究

本文选取海南西部(昌江县和东方市)作为研究区,分析1959～1975年约20年间,人口和聚落的发展变化及相互间的关系。1950年代和1970年代人口数量和聚落面积的相关系数分别为0.794和0.710,当时的生产力水平还比较低下,人口数量和农业发展关系比较紧密,人口的不断增长是聚落不断外扩的首要因素。     

European trade liberalisation and the stillborn Nordic customs union in the 1950s

Abstract

Historical research on the aborted Nordic customs union of the 1950s has emphasised the conflicting commercial interests of the countries involved. This study identifies the common commercial interests that from 1954 committed governments to further progress in the customs union issue. It argues that increased frustration over the ‘hardening’ of the European commercial regime made the governments opt for a customs union to develop Nordic manufacturing industries.