TY  - JOUR
AU  - O'Rourke,Kevin H.
TI  - The Worldwide Economic Impact of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 11344
PY  - 2005
Y2  - May 2005
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11344
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11344.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Kevin H. O'Rourke
All Souls College
Oxford University
Oxford OX1 4AL, UK
Tel: + 44 (0)1865 279 348
Fax: 353-1-6772503
E-Mail: kevin.orourke@all-souls.ox.ac.uk
AB  - The paper provides a comparative history of the economic impact of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. By focussing on the relative price evidence, it is possible to show that the conflict had major economic effects around the world. Britain's control of the seas meant that it was much less affected than other nations, such as France and the United States. Explicit welfare calculations are provided for four countries, Britain, France, Sweden and the United States. Welfare losses were largest in the US, where they were of the order of 5-6% per annum; by contrast, they lay between 3-4% per annum in France, and between 1.7-1.8% per annum in Britain. On the other hand, the conflict helped pave the way for the more liberal international economic environment of the long 19th century.
ER  -