Its No Secret at All: Extra Economic and Exogenous Development and Change in the Interwar Egyptian Economy, 1919-1939

Abstract

The development of the interwar Egyptian economy resulted from interactions between extra-economic and exogenous factors, normally seen as lying outside the economic sphere in historical accounts. Local economic elites successfully challenged colonial domination of the local economy by utilizing a number of strategies to found locally controlled businesses. The strategy of economic nationalism allowed the local elite to break into the foreign dominated Egyptian economy. By 1927 this strategy was adjusted to facilitate partnerships with foreign firms who sought out partners due to the exigencies of the Great Depression. Foreign powers interested in Egypt began to see colonial control as a detriment to their continued influence in Egypt following their increased economic success in the country. Along with strategic factors this would bring about the diminution of the capitulations in 1937 in favor of bi-lateral trade arrangements.