Selftest 2: The period after 1850 Flashcards
Name some ways increased agricultural productivity can contribute to overall economic change
Labour for industry, a market for industry, capital for other sectors
Name some important technological innovations in the late 19th century
Electricity, petrol based innovations, cheap steel
In what industry was science truly important for innovation in the late 19th century?
Chemical industries
Why did Britain perform relatively poorly concerning gdp/cap 1870-1913?
Entrepreneurial failure, backwardness of education, dependence on relatively free trade
The US economy was until the late 19th century slightly different from Europe in one regard
Higher real wages and better standard of living due to scarcity of labour
Name some characteristics of the industrialization of Germany in the late 19th century
Relatively large importance of chemical industries, large size of firms, cartels
Why is the Cobden-Chevalier treaty of 1860 important?
It was a trade treaty between France and Britain that decreased trade regulations
What is particular of the Meiji Restoration in Japan in the late 19th century?
Rapid change from the feudal traditions to modern industrial organization
In what way did the Opium War in China (1838-1842) have economic consequences?
It forced China to accept better trade terms for Britain and later other European nations
Name some signs of “globalization backlash” in the early 20th century
High tariffs, restrictions to immigration, increased reliance on domestic saving
What may have been the largest long run economic damage of WW1?
The disruption of previous economic relations
What is the Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930?
A US tariff act that spawned similar replies from other countries
What are the two major explanations to the depression in the 1930s?
A drastic decline in the quantity of money and a fall of consumption and investments
Name some long term effects of the depression of the 1930s
The growth of government involvement in the economy and the rise of import-substitution in the Third World
What is the “new deal” in the US in the 1930s?
A program for economic and social recovery in the US
What is the Soviet “NEP” in the 1920s?
A policy were market production was re-introduced
Name some characteristics of the organization of the Postwar economy in Western Europe
Increased focus on national and international economic planning and the rise of social-democratic political influence
What was the “Marshall Plan” of the late 1940s?
An effort from the US to support re-construction of the European economy
What is the COMECON in the late 1940s?
An economic union in East Europe led by Soviet Russia
What factors benefitted Japan leading to rapid economic growth post Second World War?
Investing in the most modern technologies (catch-up), domestic saving, a cooperative mentality
What constitutes the “demographic transition”?
A transition from high death and birth rates to lower
Name some reasons behind the “Golden Age” in Western Europe 1950-1975
International institutions producing monetary stability, investment in the most modern production technologies, increased government participation in the economy
Name some factors behind the relative decline in European economic growth 1975-2010
An aging population, recurring financial crisis, difficulty for some to adapt to new technologies
What is meant by the gold standard?
A system of fixed exchange rates were the value of the currency was tied to the value of gold
What is meant by the first globalization wave
A period of rapidly expanding trade after 1870, made possible by lowered tariffs, falling transportation costs and the spread of the gold standard
What was different about the first globalization wave compared to the second
That it meant not only the free movement of goods and capital but also extensive international migration
What is meant by the Second Industrial Revolution?
A period when industrialization spread to new countries spurred by inventions in electricity, the telegraph and railroads
What was the Grain Invasion?
When falling barriers to trade resulted in an influx of cheap grain from North America and Eastern Europe into Western Europe
What was the “Scramble for Africa”?
A period beginning in the late 19th century when European nations colonized the majority of African territory
What was the “Great Famine”?
A period of starvation in Ireland spurred by harvest failures and resulting in mass emigration to the United States
What was special about the Nordic countries in the period from 1870 to 1914?
They grew very rapidly and began catching up to the economic leaders
What was the result of increased trade and falling prices for foodstuffs during the first globalization wave?
It raised the living standards of the population
What did the first globalization wave mean for Latin America?
A period of soaring exports and rapid economic growth
What was the Chinese Qing constitutional movement of 1903–1911?
An attempt at steering China towards a constitutional democracy and to introduce parliaments. administrative reforms, modern banks and modern infrastructure
What was the Great Levelling?
A period of falling inequality in most western countries driven in part by mass warfare and increases in top marginal taxes to finance the wars
Which technologies saw widespread diffusion during the interwar period?
Electricity, the internal combustion engine and the telephone
How can the situation for Latin America in the interwar period be characterized?
They suffered from the breakdown of international trade as their economies were focused on primary product exports
How can we characterize Japan’s economic growth during the interwar period?
It was not particularly fast, as the country grew at the rate of the world at large
How did Chinese industry develop between WW1 and the 1930s?
There was double-digit annual growth as a consequence of increased trade and inflows of foreign direct investments resulting in expansions in textiles, food processing and other consumer products
The nationalistic movements in the Middle East during the interwar period sought to do the following things?
To reindustrialize with the help of state intervention in the economy which manifested itself in the nationalization of European assets in railways, banks and other utilities
What was the third globalization wave?
A resurgence of global trade from the 1970s onwards spurred by opening of markets and innovations in information technologies and container freight
What was the main change in the economy’s structure from the 1970s onwards?
A shift from agriculture and manufacturing into services
What was the events that led up to the 2008 financial crisis?
Low interest rates in the early 2000s and government subsidies for home lending was combined with new financial services that pooled several home loans into one product
What was the short-term economic consequence of the transition of the former socialist economy of the Soviet Union into a market-based system?
GDP initially decreased substantially, life expectancy fell and crime increased
What was the import-substitution policy that was tried in many Latin American countries during the postwar period?
An attempt to industrialize by substituting imported manufactured goods for domestically produced products
What was the policy changes enacted by the Chinese government following Mao Zedong’s death in 1976?
Rural liberalization, expansion of foreign trade and investment, policies aimed at enlivening state-owned enterprises and fiscal decentralization
What were some of the problems that followed from the reliance on oil revenues in many of the Middle Eastern economies in the postwar period?
That it was a source of conflict over how to divide revenues, foreign inputs crowed out domestic manufacturing and expectations of future income became unrealistic
What was the general direction of economic policy in India following independence from the British?
There was a large increase in government expenditure and investment, tariffs and non-tarrif barriers were raised and the state took control over the grain trade
What is meant by the “Asian Tigers”
The four countries of Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan that developed rapidly from the late 1960s
