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The frequency and repetition of economic crises over the last hundred years demands an analysis that allows us to discover the root causes of these situations and the problems they have generated in the world economy. This book investigates these cycles throughout the 20th and the early 21st century. Economic crises can be the result of political or military conflict, but they have also been the consequence of bad practices, unbridled speculation, excessive greed, or poor management by the rulers and leaders of nations. The contributors to this volume analyse the causes and consequences of economic crises from the Great Depression to the present day, incorporating post-World War II reconstruction, the oil crisis of the 1970s and the “lost” Latin American decade of the 1980s, among others. This longer-term view allows the book to provide insights into understanding economic cycles in the long run, not just at a specific moment in time, and the ways in which they have spread internationally. This historical analysis also helps to shed new light on the current Covid-impacted situation, as it provides another reading of the main crises of recent centuries and their causes and consequences, as well as the measures and policies adopted to overcome the difficulties. This book will be of significant interest to readers in economic history, business history, politics, and economics and history more broadly.

Juan Manuel Matés-Barco is Professor of Economic History and Business History at the University of Jaén. Graduate of the University of Zaragoza. Doctor from the University of Granada. Research stays in prestigious universities in Italy, France, and Portugal. Four six-year research periods recognised by the National Commission for the Evaluation of Research Activity (CNEAI. Ministry of Universities. Spain). Director of the journal Agua y Territorio/Water and Landscape (AYT/WAL). Researcher at the Permanent Seminar on Water, Territory, and the Environment: Public Policies and Citizen Participation. Coordinator of several research projects. Head Researcher of the Group of Historical Studies on the Company (GEHESE-UJA).

María Vázquez-Fariñas is Lecturer in History and Economic Institutions Area (Department of Economic Theory and History) at the University of Málaga (Spain). PhD in Social and Legal Sciences and Degree in Business Administration and Management from the University of Cádiz. Actively involved as a component of the Research Group of Historical Studies on the Enterprise (GEHESE-UJA) and part of the Editorial Board of the journal Agua y Territorio/Water and Landscape (AYT/WAL). General lines of research focus on the economic and business history of 19th-century Cádiz (Andalusia, Spain) and the development of public services in contemporary Spain. Author of many works on these subjects published in national and international journals and publishing houses.