In a balanced and readable account, this book explains how international, domestic, economic and political factors interrelated to shape the world of modern industry in the thirty years before it was originally published in 1987. It conveys some of the richness and diversity in the political and economic landscape of modern industries and provides a real-world background for the theory of economics and business. Drawing on the work of business analysts and industry specialists, as well as of economists and political scientists, it treats the subject in terms of applied economics in an empirical and practical perspective. After tracing the post-war development of manufacturing up to the mid-1980s, the same approach is applied to specific industries: steel, automobiles, consumer electronics, semiconductors, computers, automated machinery and textiles. Two themes are stressed throughout: industrial growth and development have become truly international, if not global; and most manufacturing takes place under oligopolistic conditions in a world of state intervention and pressure-group activities.
