Phases of Economic Growth, 1850–1973
Kondratieff Waves and Kuznets Swings

Solomos Solomou (Author)

9780521389044, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 1 March 1990

216 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.2 cm, 0.322 kg

'The author has written an important book, one in which various theories of fluctuations in economic growth are challenged with the evidence and are submitted to searching analytical and statistical scrutiny of a higher order … The arguments and findings of this stimulating book are important both for economists and economic historians, and should lead to much fruitful and detailed research. The author is to be congratulated.' The Economic History Review

Solomos Solomou presents a clear and systematic examination of the evidence for long-term patterns of economic growth. Using data on Britain, France, Germany, the USA and the world economy between 1850 and 1973 he refutes the existence of long (Kondratieff) waves in the course of economic development. Instead he presents persuasive evidence for a growth pattern characterised by shock-induced, long-term variations in growth at the level of the world economy. The findings show that national patterns of growth did not necessarily coincide with those of the world economy, but followed episodic long swing fluctuations of twenty to thirty years before the Second World War and trend-accelerated growth in the post-war period. The author provides new historical perspectives on the pre-1913 era, the inter-war years and the post-war boom.

List of figures
List of tables
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Perspectives on long-term economic growth variations
2. Statistical methodology
3. Production trends in the world economy
4. Price trends
5. Innovation clusters and Kondratieff waves
6. The national aspects of Kuznets swings, 1850–1913
7. The international aspects of Kuznets swings, 1850–1913
8. A long-term perspective of interwar economic growth
9. Some conclusions on the postwar boom, 1950–1973
10. Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ]