Britain, Butter, and European Integration, 1957–1964

Access to the British butter market was an important issue during British negotiations with continental Europe in the early 1960s. Commonwealth producers enjoyed preferential treatment under the terms of the Ottawa Agreement, and butter exports were of particular importance to New Zealand. This article explains how Britain attempted to safeguard New Zealand's trade while conforming to Europe's agricultural policy. When British/European negotiations collapsed in 1963, attention switched to the need to make dairy concessions to Denmark in order to speed up tariff reductions in EFTA. Commonwealth butter suppliers faced an increasingly uncertain future, and New Zealanders lived to regret their economic dependence on the British market.     

The Commonwealth as an Economic Network

Research on the economics and sociology of business networks also sheds light on the development of networks of countries. The British Commonwealth was an important global network, or group of networks, in the mid-twentieth century. Commonwealth members, including Australia and New Zealand, cooperated in the management of the Sterling Area and the Commonwealth Preference Area. Yet Commonwealth members also had links to other networks and other sources of influence including the USA, continental Europe and Japan. During the 1950s and 1960s, there was a gradual change in the network relations of Australia and New Zealand, involving a diminution in the importance of bilateral ties with Britain.     

After the veto: Australasian Commercial Policy in the mid sixties

The failure of Britain's application to join the EEC in 1961-3 did not eliminate the commercial uncertainty facing Australia and New Zealand. It was expected that Britain would apply again later, and in the meantime strike a hard commercial bargain with the dominions. This article shows how policy-makers in Australia and New Zealand fought to preserve their access to the British market after 1963, and to respond to the challenges posed by Japan's proposals for Pacific economic cooperation. External uncertainty brought Australia and New Zealand much closer together during the 1960s. The most enduring legacy of this period was the NAFTA agreement of 1965, which was the first step towards trans-Tasman economic integration.     

THE EUROMARKETS AND THE NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT IN THE 1960S

The rapid development of the Euromarkets and the more gradual opening of the West German and other capital markets to external borrowers were significant events in the reglobalisation of financial markets beginning in the 1960s. Finding it increasingly difficult to borrow in the domestic British and US capital markets, the New Zealand government sought to take advantage of the Euromarkets. As well as providing an antipodean perspective on the early Euromarkets, this paper comments on developments in the City of London in the 1960s, and outlines the process by which a relatively inexperienced borrower set about building a communicating infrastructure that enabled relationships to be forged with overseas financial institutions.     

New Zealand's economic relations with Japan in the 1950s

New Zealand's special economic relationship with Britain was brought into question during the 1950s. The subsidization of British farmers, and the dumping of foreign food surpluses in the UK, made New Zealand's traditional market seem increasingly insecure. Wellington responded by seeking supplementary outlets, and in 1958 a commercial treaty was signed between New Zealand and Japan, despite the alarm of British manufacturers. New Zealand's trade with Japan grew after 1958, although it failed to grow as quickly as trade between Australia and Japan. The Japanese were reluctant to import many animal products. This article explains the process by which Japan and New Zealand arrived at a compromise, which enabled trade to develop without seriously damaging the interests of protected groups in either country.     

The shift from sterling to the dollar, 1965–76: evidence from Australia and New Zealand

The management of foreign exchange reserves has recently attracted attention from both policy‐makers and historians. Historical research has focussed on the nineteenth century and the interwar period, with less attention to the strategies of smaller countries in the final transition from sterling to the dollar in the post‐1945 period. This article examines the evolution of reserve currency policy from the perspective of Australia and New Zealand in the 1960s and early 1970s. As in the 1930s, economic uncertainty and a shift in global economic power prompted changes in reserves strategy. Patterns of trade and debt and falling confidence in British economic policy prompted a move away from sterling, but the timing and extent of this transition were affected by the fragility of the sterling exchange rate, lack of alternative assets, and continued dependence on the London capital market. The choices for Australia and New Zealand were thus constrained, but they were able to leverage their position as holders of sterling to engage in agreements that provided an exchange rate guarantee for their sterling holdings and continued access to the London capital market. This mitigated the effect of the final global transition from sterling to the dollar while protecting their interests.     

A Tale of Two Peripheries: Real Wages in Denmark and New Zealand 1875–1939.

Abstract

Denmark achieved dramatic real wage growth after 1870, compared to other European economies and to those of the New World. The ingredients of Denmark's success are gauged by comparison with one its major competitors in the British food-products markets, New Zealand. Faster Danish productivity growth explains only part of Denmark's faster real wage growth. Open economy forces, chiefly international capital flows before 1913, and especially Danish trade union militancy around the end of World War I, influenced income distribution and especially favoured wages over property income in Denmark. Denmark's GDP per capita equalled New Zealand levels between the world wars but her real wages surged past those of New Zealand as distributional shifts favoured Denmark's wage earners.     

The Old Commonwealth and Britain's First Application to Join the EEC, 1961–3

New Zealand, Canada, and Australia reacted in different ways to Britain's decision in 1961 to seek membership of the EEC. We show that the umbrage taken by the members of the old Commonwealth was in inverse proportion to the economic interests at stake. Canada, whose trade with Britain was relatively small, adopted a position of violent opposition to British policy. New Zealand, which was still heavily dependent on the UK as a market for staple commodities, was careful to avoid acting in a manner likely to alienate the British government. Australia, which was in an intermediate position as regards the importance of its trade with Britain, mounted a sturdy defence of its commercial interests, but did not indulge in the histrionics of the Canadians. All three of the old dominions were disappointed with the arrangements for Commonwealth trade towards which the UK and the Six were moving when de Gaulle vetoed British membership in January 1963, but at least New Zealand had obtained some special concessions. Whilst it is unlikely that a less combative attitude by Canada and Australia would have resulted in a better outcome for these countries, a more belligerent approach on the part of New Zealand would have put its economic future in even greater jeopardy.     

British Capital and Merchandise Exports, 1870–1913: The Bilateral Case of New Zealand

The Ford thesis argued that there was a short‐term causal relationship between British overseas investment and British merchandise exports in the late nineteenth century. However, economic historians since Ford have found little empirical evidence in support of this argument. Using data on bilateral British lending, this article finds that such a relationship did exist, with British ex ante lending preceding merchandise exports by 2 years. A case study of New Zealand, which had an extraordinarily high share of Britain in its imports, reveals that the relationship was conditional upon the lending being allocated to social overhead capital.     

The Murupara Project and Industrial Development in New Zealand 1945–65

In New Zealand, after the Second World War, the share of manufacturing in GDP rose relative to the share of agriculture. Although the government lacked a clearly articulated industrial policy, it was increasingly drawn into the promotion and support of firms in manufacturing. The Murupara pulp and paper scheme was the most spectacular instance of state intervention in the first two postwar decades. Tasman, the company set up to operate the pulp and paper mill, was a joint venture between the state, a New Zealand construction firm called Fletchers, and British multinationals. Tasman soon became New Zealand's leading exporter of manufactured products. The need to secure the market for Tasman's newsprint exports was one of the main reasons for the negotiation of a partial free trade agreement between New Zealand and Australia in 1965. This article explains the early history of Murupara, and discusses its contribution to industrial development and diversification in New Zealand.     

Gentlemanly capitalism in New Zealand

This article responds to McAloon's contribution to this journal criticising the argument advanced by P.J. Cain and myself in British Imperialism . McAloon's research on Canterbury and Otago merits serious attention, but it is argued here that he is mistaken in claiming that it disproves the case we made for applying our concept of gentlemanly capitalism to New Zealand. Both the structure of 'settler capitalism' and the social characteristics of the settlers themselves provide a good fit with our interpretation. Nevertheless, McAloon deserves credit for putting this subject on the agenda, and it is to be hoped that other historians of New Zealand (and also of Australia) will now reconsider the relationship between the 'rules of the game' established by the imperial centre and the degrees of dependence experienced by the constituent parts of the empire.     

The empire strikes back: Hong Kong and the decline of sterling in the 1960s1

The aftermath of the sterling devaluation of 1967 is usually portrayed only in terms of the performance of the British economy, but it had more far‐reaching implications, exposing the changed financial relationship between Britain and its overseas dependencies and prompting the end of the sterling reserve system. This article explores the reasons why Britain was forced to offer its first exchange guarantee to Hong Kong in May 1968. Prolonging the colonial monetary system devised in the period from the 1930s to the late 1960s created problems for Britain that shifted the balance of power to the point where Hong Kong and other colonies were able to force a re‐negotiation of their link to sterling.     

Gentlemanly Capitalism and Settler Capitalists: Imperialism, Dependent Development and Colonial Wealth in The South Island of New Zealand

This article engages with Cain and Hopkins' analysis of the British Empire, and the closely related literature of settler capitalism. For Cain and Hopkins, the Empire was dominated by gentlemanly rentiers, and the dominions were run by a dependent and collaborating elite. This paper rests in the first instance on a comprehensive analysis of wealthy settlers in the South Island of New Zealand. In noting that most settlers who became wealthy were not of gentlemanly origins, and that even those colonial financiers most closely tied to metropolitan capital pursued local agendas, it will suggest that the historiography under consideration needs to be balanced by a better understanding of the dynamic relationship between colonies and the metropolitan economy. The paper argues that settler capitalism is a model worth using, but that its utility will be greatly extended by a focus on settler capitalists as well as settler capitalism.     

Do Natural Energy Endowments Matter? New Zealand and Uruguay in a Comparative Perspective, 1870–1940

Settler economies are characterised by abundant natural resources, but these are not homogeneous between countries. There is very little literature about the economic development of settler economies that identifies differences within the club in terms of natural resources. We look for differences in energy endowments in New Zealand and Uruguay considering coal and suitable conditions for hydroelectric generation. New Zealand and Uruguay were similar in many ways but there were huge differences in income per capita levels. A ‘modern’ production structure requires sufficient energy supply at competitive costs and New Zealand's better energy conditions explain that difference.     

建立中国―新西兰自由贸易区的经济基础分析

本文分析了中国与新西兰在贸易投资等领域的经济合作,并借助贸易强度指数、显示性比较优势指数等分析工具,定量地说明了中国和新西兰之间的经济关系。结果表明,中国―新西兰自由贸易区是建立在双方良好的经贸关系及较强的互补性产业结构基础上,双方进一步开展经贸合作有深厚的经济基础。     

The historiography of French economic growth in the nineteenth century

There has been a long-standing debate about French nineteenth-century economic growth. After 1945 the ‘retardation—stagnation’ thesis dominated. From the 1960s ‘revisionists’ painted a more optimistic view. Recently, ‘anti-revisionism’ has revived gloomy ideas. New research has been primarily responsible for changes of view. National income estimates, and later cliometric studies, bolstered the revisionist argument. Work on the ‘great depression’ stimulated anti-revisionism. Scholars have also been influenced by the economic and political state of France at the time they were writing and the debate has been somewhat politicized. The article ends by surveying the ‘moderate revisionism’ which now prevails.     

Surprisingly gentle confinement: British treatment of Danish and Norwegian prisoners of war during the napoleonic wars

ABSTRACT

The Napoleonic Wars saw the British capture and incarcerate thousands of sailors in disused Royal Navy ships, the so-called prison hulks. Many Danes and Norwegians – navy personnel, privateers and merchant sailors – were thus interred. This article uses a new data source, the official record books kept in the National Archive at Kew, to test whether the prison hulks were as bad as popular perception might suggest. In doing so, we provide the first rigorous quantitative assessment of the Danish and Norwegian sailors’ prisoner experience. We find that death rates were surprisingly low, suggesting the quantity and quality of food and medical care was reasonable. Prison hulks were not ‘floating tombs’. The records also show which prisoners were released and exchanged, and when. Officers did well, reflecting the age old system of a gentleman’s honour. Privateers did worse than merchant sailors: those who took up arms were likely to serve longer as prisoners.     

20世纪60年代英国经济贸易利益向欧洲转移中的美国因素

20世纪60年代英国对欧洲政策发生转变,由排斥加入欧共体,到积极申请加入欧洲经济共同体,其间美国因素发挥着重要作用.本文指在探讨60年代英国经济贸易向欧洲靠拢转移过程中美国因素的作用,试图说明经济强国因素对一国外交决断是一个不可忽视的推动力.     

Infant Mortality Decline and Its Socioeconomic Correlates in New Zealand, 1873–1940

The popular view of New Zealand during the first half of the twentieth century is one of a healthy country with exceptionally low infant mortality rates. This article reviews the non-Māori ‘health transition’ and its determinants from a socioeconomic perspective and draws comparisons with Australia. Regional health inequalities are analysed through the lens of infant mortality. Socioeconomic correlates with infant mortality are investigated empirically. Panel regression estimates suggest that during the 1874–1919 period, improvements in real wages corresponded with falling infant deaths and thus better health outcomes, while increased housing density created unfavourable conditions for infant survival chances.     

Trade, empire, and the fiscal context of imperial business during decolonization

Recent studies have shown convincingly that no 'neocolonialist' conspiracies were hatched to perpetuate British commercial dominance in the former colonies after independence, and that relations between individual firms and policy-makers were frequently troubled. In acknowledging the force of this general proposition, however, there is a risk of neglecting the still significant place of commercial considerations in state policy making. By relocating the relationship of trade and empire in the 1950s in an examination of a hitherto neglected dimension of British taxation policy, this article demonstrates that the Conservative government sought to assist British business with colonial interests at a time when these firms faced new uncertainties.