Population and Economic Growth, 1933–61: A Survey

Abstract

The second generation of Union was much more fortunate than the first, with the stimulus of the higher gold price in 1933 leading on to the even greater stimulus of the Second World War; in the postwar world the role of government in promoting economic growth was very different from that of the pre-1939 world. Keynesian economic views were dominant in the English-speaking world, with governments committed to pursuing policies of full employment with managed currencies and reduced barriers to international trade. South Africa was no exception to this pattern. Indeed after 1948 the country had a government that was far more interventionist than its predecessors. In these circumstances the years 1933 to 1961 saw sustained economic growth and it was in this period that South Africa joined the ranks of the developed market economies.