Description
In 1953 the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland embarked on a challenger experiment in social relations, committing itself to pursuing a policy of "inter-racial partnership" among the area's multi-racial population. The ultimate success or failure of this policy, which may have a profound effect on the course of events throughout Africa, is closely linked with the economic performance of these territories.
Like many other underdeveloped areas, the Federation encompasses two distinct forms of economic organization. One form, the Western money economy introduced with European trade and settlement, can be measured and analyzed in terms of the conventional concepts of aggregative economics. The other form, the indigenous economy, is based largely on traditional agriculture and cannot easily be assessed by conventional methods. By examining the interaction of the two economies, the author has attempted to fill a serious gap in our economic knowledge.
Since the functioning of the Central African economic system cannot be fully understood apart from its non-economic context, the author considers certain political and social issues that have had a forceful impact on the Federation's economic life.
Mr. Barber is Associate Professor of Economics at Wesleyan University.
This is a reproduction edition from a scanned copy of the following original edition:
The Economy of British Central Africa
William J. Barber
Published by Stanford University Press, 1961
271 pages
Tags:
Stanford University Press, Southern Rhodesia, maize, Copperbelt, Manicaland, census, money economy, dualism, real wage, value premises, Lusaka, net national income, indigenous economy, Short tons, South Africa, British Central Africa, economic system, Matabeleland, Barotseland, real income, secondary industries 
