ABSTRACT
The quantitative indicators suggest that the description a second industrial revolution for developments is overdone. The 1850s and 1860s were a period of consolidation rather than revolution, although they would hardly have seemed to those caught up in the massive expansion of the metals and transport industries. The period confirmed Britain as the worlds leading trading nation and it was now less disturbed by slumps and their attendant social dislocations. It may be better to leave angels on a pinhead debates about what qualifies as a boom or a slump to econometricians. The economy related to the provision of services rather than the production of manufactured goods. The term covers work in education, health, utilities such as gas and water, in the retail trades and also in administration and management. It is sometimes known as the tertiary sector to distinguish it both from a primary sector covering agriculture, mining and fishing and a secondary sector which is involved in manufactures.
