British Protectionism and the International Economy: Overseas Commercial Policy in the 1930s
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Overview
When in the winter of 1931-2 Britain first abandoned the gold standard and then free trade, two potent symbols of its nineteenth-century international economic predominance had gone within the space of little more than six months. Tim Rooth's comprehensive study in the political economy of protectionism examines the forces behind the abandonment of free trade and the way that Britain then used protection to bargain for trade advantages in the markets of its chief suppliers of food and raw materials. One result of the depression, greatly accentuated by the rise of protectionist barriers elsewhere in the world, was to heighten the importance of the British market, and particularly the dependence of primary producers, both within and outside the Empire, on Britain. The United Kingdom government, finding itself with enormously enhanced economic leverage, was therefore able to take advantage of this in a series of trade agreements both with the Commonwealth at Ottawa in 1932 and, comparatively neglected in previous studies, with the countries of Northern Europe and with Argentina. The book examines these, the World Economic and Monetary Conference of 1933, the trade dispute with Japan and the impact of Britain's trade treaty obligations on domestic agricultural protection. The symbiosis between economic policy and the deteriorating international political environment became all the more apparent in the negotiations with Germany and the USA in the late 1930s.Synopsis
Examines the forces behind the British abandonment of free trade in the 1930s and the way protection was used to bargain for trade advantages.
Editorials
From the Publisher
"...the study makes a substantial contribution to our understanding of the 1930s." American Historical Review"This thorough account of the complexities and frustration of bilateral trade negotiations in conditions of widespread unemployment is a moral tale for policymakers and a valuable contribution to the history of international economic policy." Journal of Economic History
"...a most learned book, performing a task which had to be done at some time. Specialists will be most grateful for it, and others will gain some insight into the narrow world of the 1930's." Sidney Pollard, The International History Review