ABSTRACT
Britain's relative economic decline, 1870–1914, and the commensurate rise of foreign competition attracted much discussion and debate. In the 1920s, however, industrial organization gained much higher profile. In politics, press, and academic literature and in some business circles the subject was extensively discussed and deliberated upon. By late 1920s rationalization was a vogue word across Europe and carried the imprimatur of international bodies such as League of Nations. The most accessible statistical evidence at the time, on trade and employment, painted a particularly grim picture. The more extreme pro-rationalization literature of 1920s implied that virtually any branch of industry could benefit from industrial combination. Although some criticisms of British industrial organization and management in 1920s were very general, it was the alleged failings of the staple trades that attracted most attention. Coal, iron and steel, textiles, shipbuilding and engineering had been the backbone of British industry pre-war, accounting for about half of net industrial output and two-thirds of domestic exports.
