ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the challenge of reconstruction, which requires an assessment of the changing relations between the state, business and labour. The emphasis on the rebuilding' of the industrial economy naturally directed the Ministry of Reconstruction to consider its relations with business and labour, and the government's economic strategy for supporting the transition phase. In March 1919 the new Minister of Reconstruction Auckland Geddes inaugurated discussions with government departments and business leaders, and presented his findings in a report outlining a programme for economic recovery to the War Cabinet in June. Indeed, only a few political and business leaders on the home front were prepared for the sudden end of the conflict, as in the summer and autumn of 1918 the War Cabinet was still planning for an offensive in 1919 with contingencies for 1920. As labour problems escalated, changes to international financial markets added another level of economic uncertainty for business, labour and the state.
