Regional and Industrial Growth Patterns in 20th-Century Western Europe

Abstract

One of the pioneers of research on international trade and economic growth has taken up the interesting subject of the influence of economic policy and other institutional decisions on economic growth. It is in ehis sense that the author compares the economic responses of different countries to international developments in the fields o f foreign trade, the rise of financial centres and economic growth. The main emphasis of the book is Haid on the problem o f foreign trade, and the analysis is based on already existing economic historical works. Five chapters of the book have been published before by the zuthor himself in different periodicals. One of the central themes in the discussion is to show that the economic responses can be either static or dynamic. In his consideration of economic responses to the difficulties brought about by international price fluctuations, Kindleberger attaches great importance to group behaviour in different countries. The response is unpredictable because it is conditioned by political pressures, transmission o f information etc. Free trade in itself does not offer a solution, although it seems that an abundant factor o f production (like forest industry in Finland) generally favours free trade, but the crucial thing is what happens after the Tree trade decision.