The Cambridge Economic History of Australia

Provides a systematic and comprehensive treatment of Australia's economic foundations, growth, resilience and future in an engaging, contemporary narrative.

Simon Ville (Edited by), Glenn Withers (Edited by)

9781107029491, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 October 2014

624 pages
23.8 x 15.8 x 4.2 cm, 1.15 kg

Australia's economic history is the story of the transformation of an indigenous economy and a small convict settlement into a nation of nearly 23 million people with advanced economic, social and political structures. It is a history of vast lands with rich, exploitable resources, of adversity in war, and of prosperity and nation building. It is also a history of human behaviour and the institutions created to harness and govern human endeavour. This account provides a systematic and comprehensive treatment of the nation's economic foundations, growth, resilience and future, in an engaging, contemporary narrative. It examines key themes such as the centrality of land and its usage, the role of migrant human capital, the tension between development and the environment, and Australia's interaction with the international economy. Written by a team of eminent economic historians, The Cambridge Economic History of Australia is the definitive study of Australia's economic past and present.

Introduction Simon Ville and Glenn Withers
Part I. Framework: 1. The historiography of Australian economic history William Coleman
2. Economic growth and its drivers since European settlement Jakob Madsen
3. Analytical frameworks of economic history Chris Lloyd
Part II. Transition: 4. The Aboriginal legacy Boyd Hunter
5. The convict economy Debbie Oxley and David Meredith
Part III. Economic Expansion of the Colonies: 6. Technological change Gary Magee
7. Industrialising Australia's natural capital David Greasley
8. Labour, skills and migration Andrew Seltzer
9. Colonial enterprise Simon Ville
10. Infrastructure and colonial socialism Jonathan Pincus and Henry Ergas
11. Urbanisation Lionel Frost
Part IV. A National Economy: 12. Capital markets Rodney Maddock
13. Manufacturing Diane Hutchinson
14. Big business and foreign firms David Merrett
15. Government and the evolution of public policy John Wilson
16. The labour market Tim Hatton and Glenn Withers
17. The service economy Monica Keneley
Part V. Building the Modern Economy: 18. Reorientation of trade, investment, migration Richard Pomfret
19. Microeconomic reform Jeff Borland
20. The evolution of macroeconomic strategy Mike Keating
Part VI. Looking Backwards and to the Future: 21. A statistical narrative: Australia 1800–2010 Matthew Butlin, Robert Dixon and Peter Lloyd
22. Wealth and welfare Martin Shanahan
23. Property right regimes and their environmental impacts Edwyna Harris
24. Refiguring indigenous economies: a 21st century perspective John Altman and Nicholas Biddle
Appendix Matthew Butlin, Robert Dixon and Peter Lloyd.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ], Economic growth [KCG], Australasian & Pacific history [HBJM]