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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Slamming the 'Open Door': British Protectionist Fiscal Policy in Inter-War Nigeria |
Author: | Olukoju, Ayodeji |
Year: | 1999 |
Periodical: | Itinerario: European Journal of Overseas History |
Volume: | 23 |
Issue: | 2 |
Pages: | 13-28 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Nigeria |
Subjects: | fiscal policy tariffs colonialism Economics and Trade History and Exploration |
Abstract: | This article examines two instances of protectionism in interwar Nigeria under British colonial rule, viz. the differential export duty on palm kernels after World War I and the anti-Japanese textile quotas of the 1930s. It shows that the 'open door' policy was essentially limited to periods of relative peace or commercial stability, or when British economic power enjoyed unassailable ascendancy. When, as during the First World War, there was a global crisis, the British government had no qualms adopting and implementing protectionist policies to safeguard its economic interests and those of its nationals, that is, consumers, merchants and industrialists. Again, during periods of economic uncertainty, such as the Great Depression of the 1930s, the 'open door' was necessarily slammed shut. Notes, ref. |