The Reinterpretation of Italian Economic History
From Unification to the Great War

This book examines the economic development of post-unification Italy in its international context.

Stefano Fenoaltea (Author)

9781107658080, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 March 2014

322 pages, 47 b/w illus. 4 maps 32 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.48 kg

"This book brings together four decades of research on Italian industrialization by Stefano Fenoaltea." -EH.Net, Brian A'Hearn

Post-unification Italy was part of a wider world within which men and money circulated freely; it developed to the extent that those mobile resources chose to locate on its soil. The economy's cyclical movements reflected conditions in international financial markets, and were little affected by domestic policies. State intervention restricted the internal and international mobility of goods, and limited Italy's development: it kept the economy weak, reduced Italy's weight in the comity of nations, and paved the way for the frustrations and adventurism that would plunge the twentieth century into world war.

Introduction
1. The time series and the interpretations
2. The investment cycle
3. The consumption cycle and the 'crisis' of the 1880s
4. Protection and migration
5. Railways
6. North and south
7. The state of play
Appendices: tariffs, trade, migration and growth.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], European history [HBJD]