Economic Reforms (Essay Sample)

Economic Reforms Sym
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Economic Reforms Sym
Why was land reform a cornerstone of the economic policies of the post-imperial states?
Most post-imperial leaders held the belief that economic growth was founded on agriculture because almost all industries utilized agricultural products as raw materials. They also thought that for their economies to thrive well, they had to strengthen their industrial sectors, which also relied on agriculture. Likewise, the success of the agricultural sector was dependent on land reforms aimed at ensuring proper usage of the available land. This made all the economic policies have a strong basis for land reforms because the success of the policies would be determined by the success of the agricultural sector, which was also relying on the success of the land policies. Land reforms also formed the basis for the economic policies because huge parcels of land remained idle when they were under individual ownership, which was not good for the economy. The rich owned big tracts of land that they underutilized. It was considered a good move to introduce land reforms so that land remained with the people who could utilize it fully and bring economic growth (Seton-Watson 75-97).
To what extent was economic reform motivated by political concerns rather than a desire to improve the economic situation?
There was a higher political concern by the political leaders than a strong desire to introduce economic developments in their respective states. The political leaders were more apprehensive about the debts that other countries owed them, and made an effort to ensure that the debts were cleared as soon as possible. This was at the expense of economic ties with the countries that owed them. They went to the extent of creating tariff barriers with the countries and claimed that the tariffs would benefit the individual states. In reality, the tariff barriers were for their personal gains because they created them so as to provide protection to their private industries, which they felt were facing stiff competition from industries in other foreign countries. For example, Britain is one of the countries that embraced protectionism. Despite their claim that their actions would introduce economic reforms, the moves were not for the benefit of the wider populace (Seton-Watson 413-426).
Why did land reforms fail to achieve its objectives?
The reforms in the land sector aimed at introducing changes that would be beneficial to all the persons, but the result was contrary to the expectation because it proved to be favorable to one social class. The society comprised of the noble, the middle, as well as the peasant classes. Most of the peasant tenants that inherited the lands from their parents and continued to pay a fixed rent worked for their masters as rent payment. There existed a need for land reforms, and this became a priority for the revolutionists who took power from the previous leaders. For instance, the reforms in France included a repeal of the laws that obligated peasants to either pay fixed rent or work for the landowners as pay for their continued accommodation. This enabled the peasants to own land and stop submitting rents to the land owners. The wealthy individuals lost their lands to the peasants, which created further divisions within the society instead of solving the land issue in a manner that every party would remain satisfied (Seton-Watson 99-114).
Other countries such as England introduc...