In the first half of the twentieth century a variety of factors - stagnant extraction processes, fierce competition from abroad, less favourable geological endowment, unstable demand during the interwar years - led Belgian coal producers to unify in order to preserve their production capacities....

This article reviews beer production, consumption and the industrial organization of breweries throughout history. Monasteries were the centers of the beer economy in the early Middle Ages. Innovation and increased demand later induced the growth of commercial breweries. Globalization and...