British Economic History
' 'To what extend did the growth of overseas trade led to Britain 's Industrial revolution? ' '
Introduction
The development of Britain as a modern industrial economy, happened simultaneously with the expansion of foreign trade and that led many scholars to stress on the significance of exports. Some went even further to express the idea, that the growth during the industrial revolution depended on the overseas trade. During the industrial revolution,some of the major developing industries ,like textiles and coal,grew even more by selling their products abroad. The technological innovations of the late 18th century made the British goods cheaper, ' 'attracting ' ' export markets,and soon Britain became the new commercial capital and the ' 'international industry ' ' of Europe because of its exports. However, it seems that this flourishing of trade did not contribute substantially to the industrial revolution since the benefits of trade in the economy are much higher after the classical years of industrial revolution,although the trade 's importance should not be neglected or even worse be underestimated. For example,in 18th century, the proportion of national income derived from exports and then spent on imports doubled in comparison to the national income. However, in 19th century although the ratio of trade to national income continued to grow,paradoxically this ratio did not increase during the industrial revolution itself. Undoubtedly trade contributed to the industrialisation of Britain but it is more difficult to find causal connections between trade and economic growth[1] .
General evaluation of trade during Industrial Revolution 1760-1850
During the classical years of industrial revolution,we can distinguish two different periods of changes in the trend of trade growth.
1760-1781
This period follows a recovery period for the growth of exports that it was attributed to the end of the Seven Years War and its special circumstances. Thus
Introduction
The development of Britain as a modern industrial economy, happened simultaneously with the expansion of foreign trade and that led many scholars to stress on the significance of exports. Some went even further to express the idea, that the growth during the industrial revolution depended on the overseas trade. During the industrial revolution,some of the major developing industries ,like textiles and coal,grew even more by selling their products abroad. The technological innovations of the late 18th century made the British goods cheaper, ' 'attracting ' ' export markets,and soon Britain became the new commercial capital and the ' 'international industry ' ' of Europe because of its exports. However, it seems that this flourishing of trade did not contribute substantially to the industrial revolution since the benefits of trade in the economy are much higher after the classical years of industrial revolution,although the trade 's importance should not be neglected or even worse be underestimated. For example,in 18th century, the proportion of national income derived from exports and then spent on imports doubled in comparison to the national income. However, in 19th century although the ratio of trade to national income continued to grow,paradoxically this ratio did not increase during the industrial revolution itself. Undoubtedly trade contributed to the industrialisation of Britain but it is more difficult to find causal connections between trade and economic growth[1] .
General evaluation of trade during Industrial Revolution 1760-1850
During the classical years of industrial revolution,we can distinguish two different periods of changes in the trend of trade growth.
1760-1781
This period follows a recovery period for the growth of exports that it was attributed to the end of the Seven Years War and its special circumstances. Thus
Bibliography: 1)The Cambridge Economic History Of Modern Britain , Volume 1 ,Industrialization 1700-1860 ,edited by Roderick Floud and Paul Johnson 2)F. Crouzet, ‘Towards an Export Economy: British Exports during the Industrial Revolution’, Explorations in Economic History 17 (1980) 3)R. Davis, The Industrial Revolution and British Overseas Trade (1979) ----------------------- [1] The Cambridge Economic History Of Modern Britain , Volume 1 ,Industrialization 1700-1860 ,edited by Roderick Floud and Paul Johnson [2] Deane and Cole ,p.47;Deane and Habakkuk,pp 77-78;also in Schumpeter,p.14;Mathias p.98 [3] F. Crouzet, ‘Towards an Export Economy: British Exports during the Industrial Revolution’, Explorations in Economic History 17 (1980) [4] The Cambridge Economic History Of Modern Britain , Volume 1 ,Industrialization 1700-1860 ,edited by Roderick Floud and Paul Johnson