Issues and topics after the wheat boom
I.
Technological change during the wheat boom Ch. 12, 13, 14.
Theme: Examining technological change indicates that factors other than the
wheat boom may well have caused much of the economic growth from 1890 to
1920.
a. Hydroelectricity: Central Canada is poorly endowed with coal but very
well endowed with hydroelectricity
i. Manufacturing
ii. Aluminium
iii. Pulp and paper
b. Internal combustion engine
i. Automobile
ii. Tractor
II.
International finance and interwar instability Ch. 15 and 17.
Theme: Canada was part of an international community that broke down in the
1920s and 1930s.
a. The gold standard and interlocked international financial markets
b. World War I and the break down of the gold Standard
c. International Finance and the great Depression
d. Real factors and the Great Depression
III.
The Maritime economy in the early 20th century. Ch. 16
Theme: The Maritime economy’s ‘traditional’ staples faltered as economic forces
moved manufacturing into Central Canada and out of the peripheries.
a. Initial impact of the National Policy on Manufacturing
b. Shipping, ship building and forestry
c. The fishery
d. Coal
e. Manufacturing collapse
f. The Maritimes and Regional Development policy after World War II
IV.
Economic development since World War II – the Modern Era
a. Economic development from 1945 to 1973 Chs. 18, 19 20.
i. The business cycle and economic stabilization
ii. Manufacturing and Resource development
Theme: Canada again imported capital to develop its economy, but much capital
arrived as direct investment from American multi-nationals. The demand for
primary product exports to the U.S. also increased.
iii. The Growth of the Welfare State
Theme: The State increasingly took responsibility to ensure that individual
Canadians were spared the most severe poverty, that all Canadians had access to
health care, and that advanced education was not accessible only by the rich.
b. Economic development from 1973 to the present Ch. 22.
Theme: After 1973, rates of growth slowed and government became burdened by
rising debts and the need to reduce deficits.
i. The business cycle and economic stabilization
ii. Productivity concerns and Trade policy
iii. Federal and provincial finance and social programs