Instability of a dependent economy

This book attempts to describe and to explain the economic fluctuations that occurred in New Zealand before the first world war. It seeks, therefore, to make a contribution to economic annals, and to throw some light upon the problem of fluctuation in a dependent and rapidly developing economy. New Zealand is a singularly pure example of a dependent economy, and although small is sufficiently complex to show up the major features of this problem. Its rapid rate of development is indicated by the growth of population from 27,000 in 1851 to 1,006,000 in 1911. I had hoped, when I started the inquiry, to bring it up to 1939, but could not manage this within the time at my disposal. The sequel will have to wait for a further oppor tunity to undertake research, but is, perhaps, less urgent in that a good deal of published work has appeared describing New Zealand's economic conditions during the inter-war period.