The Economic History Review

Trade, empire, and the fiscal context of imperial business during decolonization

Volume 57 Issue 1
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Pages: 142-160Authors: Sarah Stockwell
Published online: September 21, 2004DOI: 10.1111/j.0013-0017.2004.00275.x

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Recent studies have shown convincingly that no ‘neocolonialist’ conspiracies were hatched to perpetuate British commercial dominance in the former colonies after independence, and that relations between individual firms and policy-makers were frequently troubled. In acknowledging the force of this general proposition, however, there is a risk of neglecting the still significant place of commercial considerations in state policy making. By relocating the relationship of trade and empire in the 1950s in an examination of a hitherto neglected dimension of British taxation policy, this article demonstrates that the Conservative government sought to assist British business with colonial interests at a time when these firms faced new uncertainties.

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