Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- The economy at the beginning of the twentieth century -- Strains in the late colonial economy -- War and independence -- In pursuit of socialism -- Toward the market: the economy from 1988 -- Conclusion: themes and threads.

"At the beginning of the twentieth-century, Burma was among the most prosperous territories in the East. Yet since gaining independence in 1948, its economy has struggled. Burma's developmental failure has often been attributed to gross mismanagement of the economy by the military who took power in March 1962 but in this illuminating book, Ian Brown, one of the leading economic historians of Southeast Asia, provides a fresh examination of the country's economic past, thereby setting that failure in the context of the colonial period. For the first time, a review of Burma's economic experience in the final decades of British rule is integrated with an analysis of its economy since independence, providing a detailed understanding of the complex origins of Burma's economic failure in the second half of the twentieth-century. This is a compelling introduction to Burma's political and economic history for students in Southeast Asian history, development studies and political science"-- Provided by publisher.