This article examines the emergence of Italy and the Netherlands as new competitors in the European steel industry after the Second World War and compares it to similar developments in other parts of the world. It examines the factors which made it possible for these two countries to challenge...

The Dutch economy has relied on trade for centuries. During the seventeenth century the Netherlands experienced a Golden Age built largely on commercial enterprise, and trade continues to be the golden link in the supply chain from producers to consumers. Yet we know very little about the...