ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the extent to which industrialization has affected the economic position of the Celtic fringe relative to England from 1851—1961. The consequences of industrialization for national development may presumably be conceptualized on two levels. At the microscopic level industrialization implies great disruption in individual lifestyles. At the macroscopic level industrialization stimulates a wide range of transactions which are presumed to significantly narrow differences between regions within state territory. Once initial economic inequality has evolved, the transmission of growth from dynamic to stagnant regions becomes problematic. Since regional economic equality has not been a natural outcome of the extension of markets into the periphery the central government was urged to take a more active role in redistributing resources to benefit the areas, along with other depressed areas within England. Production in Wales, Scotland, and Ireland was excessively specialized, whereas England alone developed a diversified industrial economy.
