Economics

Home
Themes
Economics

What's Inside

Two pamphlet covers on Britain's Economy. The left side has "The National Budget 1950/51" pamphlet cover. The right side has "The Pound and Our Future" pamphlet cover with a large illustration of the £ sign.

Introduction

Many of the primary source collections published by British Online Archives (BOA) can be grouped under the broad theme of “Economics”. Put simply, "Economics" refers to the distribution of resources within and between human populations. Competing ideologies have led to the creation of very different economic systems, from free-market capitalism to state socialism.

“Economics” relates to many different historical and geographical contexts, and intersects with other BOA themes, such as “Colonialism and Empire”, “International Relations”, “Philosophy and Religion”, and “Politics and Social Movements”.

For instance, the collections grouped under “Economics” document the rise of the East India Company and the wider spread of British colonial rule. The collections likewise evidence the development of the transatlantic slave trade and the associated plantation economy throughout the Caribbean. They also document the growth of Liverpool, which emerged as the key British port for the transatlantic slave trade.

The collections within this theme also illustrate the influence of Marxist thought. For example, they track the development of the British labour movement and the rise and fall of the Soviet Union. Furthermore, they chart the establishment of the new global monetary system following the Second World War, via the establishment of institutions such as the European Economic Community and the World Trade Organization.

Collections

View all Collections

Showing 1–8 of 26

Filter results

Painting by artist Thomas Luny in 1788 of East India Company's Ships

Licensed to access British Mercantile Trade Statistics, 1662–1809

Contributor The National Archives (UK) Contents 4 Volumes, 146 Documents (47,662 Pages)

A black and white image of a crowd of people cheering and clapping their hands above their heads.

Licensed to access British Communism in Campaigns and Events, 1947-1991

Contributor Archive Trust of the Communist Party of Great Britain Contents 1 Volumes, 7 Documents (824 Pages)

An image of the monument to Karl Marx in Moscow city centre.

Licensed to access Marxist History and Historians in the 20th Century

Contributor Archive Trust of the Communist Party of Great Britain Contents 8 Volumes, 57 Documents (11,218 Pages)

Lady Justice statue at the Old Bailey, Central Criminal Court

Licensed to access Trade Unions in Crisis: the 1961 ETU Ballot-Rigging Scandal

Contributor Archive Trust of the Communist Party of Great Britain Contents 1 Volumes, 40 Documents (2,787 Pages)

Representatives from the Soviet Union, UK and US at the 1945 Potsdam Conference in Potsdam, Germany.

Licensed to access Establishing the Post-War International Order, 1944-1961

Contributor The National Archives (UK) Contents 14 Volumes, 1275 Documents (231,364 Pages)

An engraving of Ragged School, Whitechapel. A very large school room full of children, with a teacher at the front presiding over a wooden desk

Licensed to access British Poor Schools in the Nineteenth Century, 1812-1901

Contributor The National Society (Church of England Education Office); British & Foreign School Society Contents 4 Volumes, 60 Documents (30,671 Pages)