New Zealand and the World Economy, 1870-1939 (U02611)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : HCA-3-NZWE

The course will examine New Zealand's economic growth and income distribution 1870-1939. Particular attention will be paid to the period following the development of the refrigerated trades, which transformed the composition and the volumes of the Dominion's exports. Modern debates surrounding the consequences of globalisation for the resource abundant economies of the periphery will be introduced, and used to inform New Zealand's experience. The connections between staple exports, economic fluctuations, and intensive growth will be examined. The implications for income distribution will be considered by investigating the course of wage rates and the price of land in New Zealand compared to other parts of the world.

New Zealand's idiosyncratic responses to the challenges and the opportunities of globalization, including those associated with public policy, will be assessed. Notable among the Dominion's responses were the shifts to more widespread landownership and intensive farming, which contrast with the experience of some other economies of the periphery. Whether New Zealand's responses to the world market created prosperity or, eventaually, set in motion forces that led to instability and depression is the central theme of the course. The underpinning of New Zealand's long depression of the 1920s and early 1930s will be considered. Attention will also be paid to the reasons for New Zealand's remarkably fast recovery of the 1930s, and to her eventual pursuit of insular economic policies.

Entry Requirements

? Pre-requisites : Visiting students should normally have 3 to 4 History courses at grade B or above.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Economic and Social History, (School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Schedule E)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : Not being delivered

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 11 weeks

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Monday	10:00	10:50	Central
Lecture	Thursday	09:30	10:50	Central

? Additional Class Information : Please note that the Thursday sessions in a tutorial, not a lecture

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

Students undertaking this course will acquire:

o A substantive knowledge of New Zealand's economic history, and of how it was shaped by thy wider forces of the world economy.
o An understanding of the theoretical perspectives of how trade, and capital and labour flows influence economic growth and income distribution.
o An awareness of the quantitative record of New Zealand's economic growth, and of the sources upon which it is based.
o An ability to undertake in-depth economic-historical analysis and to present a coherent argument both verbally and in written-form, employing a range of literary, theoretical, and data-analytical skills.

Assessment Information

Students will be required to submit a 3000 words essay, and to sit a 2-hour examination in April/May. The essay will count for 25% and the exam for 75% of the final mark.