6 The Construction of Neoclassical Orthodoxy . The Belle Epoque With the end of the immediate effects of the agrarian crisis and the ‘Great Depression’ which had hit Europe between the end of the 1870s and the first half of the 1890s, Europe, the United States, and Japan launched themselves into a new wave of economic growth | 6 The Construction of Neoclassical Orthodoxy . The Belle Epoque With the end of the immediate effects of the agrarian crisis and the Great Depression which had hit Europe between the end of the 1870s and the first half of the 1890s Europe the United States and Japan launched themselves into a new wave of economic growth which sustained its rhythm until the First World War and was particularly notable for the number of technological innovations it produced. Some scholars speak of a second industrial revolution a revolution carried over the thousands of kilometres of telephone wires and electricity poles on the wheels of millions of bicycle motorcycles and cars and on the wings of the first aeroplanes and which produced the mysterious concoctions of synthetic chemistry from carbon derivatives. The towns were bright with lights and smooth roads were opened for the new means of transport. The mobility of the population inside and outside national borders increased enormously almost as much as the mobility of capital which from the main financial centres of London Berlin and Paris radiated to the most varied destinations. Countries which up to that time had remained at the margins of industrial growth Sweden Holland Italy Spain Russia Hungary and Japan leapt forward while the European drive towards colonial expansion became more urgent almost obsessive even though it was not always economically profitable. Although the trade union movements by this time well organized in many countries were quite militant sociopolitical institutions had become sufficiently flexible and economic growth sufficiently self-sustaining to allow many concessions to the workers especially in regard to wages and working conditions without provoking dramatic breaks in the expansive trend. This was also a period therefore of improvement in the standard of living of the lower classes of urbanization and of changes in consumption patterns. The simultaneous industrial growth in many economic areas
