Industry and Trade, 1800–1938

Abstract

This chapter first analyses the impact of the colonial state on manufacturing and trade, going from investments in education and infrastructure to trade policy. It then provides a novel analysis of the effect of colonial trade policy on the cotton handicrafts sector, and the failure of Malta to experience broad-based and fast industrialization. Next is analysis of the distortive effect of British military expenditure, with a particular focus on the Royal Dockyards. A section on Malta’s role as an entrepôt follows; how its integration into the global economy made it a major coaling and shipping centre for a while, and how this led to the development of its first merchant banks. The concluding section covers the difficulties Malta faced in diversifying its economy.