ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the proposition that deliberate attempts by the nation-states of late pre-industrial times to ‘manage’ disasters had some positive result and were still more important for later economic growth by virtue of establishing appropriate administrative machinery and precedents. In Europe, which is relatively stable geophysically, the chief disasters with substantial economic impact were famines, outbreaks of crop disease which threatened famine or at least sharp price rises for foodstuffs, epizotttics, and epidemics. Epizootics were a major and highly visible source of loss, especially where there were dairy herds or cattle were the draught animals. Political authorities had customarily been concerned to regulate the grain trade and minimise rises in the price of bread.
