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"The South African Economy, 1910-90" surveys the growth of the
South African economy since 1910, when the four provinces came
together to form the Union of South Africa. The theme of this book
is the economic organization that made possible the growth of the
South African economy which has contended with natural disasters, a
backward but politically influential agricultural sector, a fixed
gold price, the impact of two world wars and finally the
constraints on growth imposed by the apartheid policies present
since 1948. The book describes how the gold industry fuelled the
growth of the economy and enabled the government to subsidise
agriculture. The gold idustry, however, was a mixed blessing and
since 1973 the dramatic rise in its price has not been accompanied
by a boom in the growth rate. In fact it led to a marked
deceleration in the rate of growth and triggered a burst of
inflation that is still ravaging the South African economy. The
affects on the economy of leaving the Commonwealth in 1961 are then
examined, as this caused an industrial revolution that made South
Africa the power house of Africa; but accompanying the industrial
transformation was a population explosion that
The theme of the book is how efficient economic organisation with
clearly defined property rights in the framework of a market
economy has made possible the development of the South African
economy. The book is divided into three periods: 1910-33, 1933-61
and 1961-90. Each of them begins with a brief survey of the growth
of population and GDP which is then followed by a more detailed
sectoral analysis. The book represents an important general survey
of the South African economy in the twentieth century and as such
will be required reading for all interested in the making of the
modern South African economy.
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