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7 - The State of Play

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2012

Stefano Fenoaltea
Affiliation:
Università degli Studi di Roma 'Tor Vergata'
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Summary

Italy and the world economy: cyclical movements

The economic development of post-Unification Italy cannot be understood by examining Italy alone. Italy was already then part of a wider world characterized by the ready movement of goods, ideas, men and money; it developed as and to the extent that the mobile resources of that transnational economy chose to locate on Italian soil.

From 1861 to 1913 Italy's total product grew, even in per-capita terms, relatively steadily. It did not always grow from year to year: agriculture was the dominant sector, especially in the early years, and total product fell if bad weather or outbreaks of disease caused poor harvests. But these downturns were short-lived, and over the medium term agricultural production grew without significant interruption.

The longer cycle was in the industrial sector; it grew stronger over time, and became much the major source of aggregate production movements. Within that sector, the cycle was specific to the industries that produced durable goods – construction, engineering – and those that supplied their raw materials. The dominant economic cycle in post-Unification Italy was an investment cycle.

The upswings of that investment cycle were the quinquennia from Unification to 1865 and again from 1869 to 1874, under the Right; the decade from 1879 to 1887, dominated politically by Depretis; and the even longer period, from 1896 to the War, dominated by Giolitti.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Reinterpretation of Italian Economic History
From Unification to the Great War
, pp. 241 - 246
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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  • The State of Play
  • Stefano Fenoaltea, Università degli Studi di Roma 'Tor Vergata'
  • Book: The Reinterpretation of Italian Economic History
  • Online publication: 05 March 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511730351.011
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  • The State of Play
  • Stefano Fenoaltea, Università degli Studi di Roma 'Tor Vergata'
  • Book: The Reinterpretation of Italian Economic History
  • Online publication: 05 March 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511730351.011
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The State of Play
  • Stefano Fenoaltea, Università degli Studi di Roma 'Tor Vergata'
  • Book: The Reinterpretation of Italian Economic History
  • Online publication: 05 March 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511730351.011
Available formats
×