What is the staple theory in economics?

The staple thesis is a theory of economic growth that emphasizes the role of traditional commodities, or staple products, and the impact they have on shaping a resource-rich economy. It argues that national economies are linked to the production and export of staple goods.

Why is the staple theory important?

Rather, the staple theory was developed as an analytical framework to help explain the economic evolution of economies where exports of raw materials or their processed by-products have been of some consequence, and to determine the conditions under which staple-related economic activity positively contributes to …

How does Innis staples theory explain Canada’s economic history?

The thesis explains Canadian economic development as a lateral, east-west conception of trade. Innis argued that Canada developed as it did because of the nature of its staple commodities: raw materials, such as fish, fur, lumber, agricultural products and minerals, that were exported to Britain and the West Indies.

What is the staple trade?

Under this system, the government or the ruler required that all overseas trade in certain goods be transacted at specific designated market towns or ports, referred to as the “staple ports”. …

What is Staples theory and why is it important to Canada?

Staple Thesis, a theory asserting that the export of natural resources, or staples, from Canada to more advanced economies has a pervasive impact on the economy as well as on the social and political systems.

What does the term staple mean?

1 : used, needed, or enjoyed constantly usually by many individuals. 2 : produced regularly or in large quantities staple crops such as wheat and rice. 3 : principal, chief.

What does staples mean in social studies?

1 : a town used as a center for the sale or exportation of commodities in bulk. 2 : a place of supply : source. 3 : a chief commodity or production of a place.

What are staple products?

The term staple goods refers to those specific consumer goods that are consumed by the people on a regular basis and thus are bought regularly. These goods that are consumed on a regular basis for example milk, sugar, bread, paper, etc.

What are staples and why were they important to the early development of Canada?

The Canadian economy has long been associated with the production and export of staples — largely unprocessed goods of relatively high bulk and low value. The intensified emphasis on the wheat economy in the late 19th century derived from a growing market size and demand.

What is the staple product?

Staple goods (also known as staple products, staples, core products, and necessity goods) are inventoried items that are core to your business. For example, hooks and fishing line are staples of a tackle shop. Golf balls are a staple product for a golf pro shop.

What is Canada’s staple trap?

This is Canada’s “staples trap,” as famed Canadian economist Mel Watkins coined it in his seminal 1963 paper “A Staple Theory of Economic Growth”: The tendency for the country to tilt its economic resources and policies in support of one particularly in-demand staple or another that, inevitably, leaves the economy …

Does staple mean Main?

Most important; leading; principal. Staple industries. Principal; main.

What is the staples theory in economics?

In economic development, the staples thesis is a theory of export-led growth based on Canadian experience. The theory “has its origins in research into Canadian social, political, and economic history carried out in Canadian universities…by members of what were then known as departments of political economy.”

What is the staples thesis?

In economic development, the staples thesis is a theory of export-led growth based on Canadian experience.

What are the key features of Innis’s staple theory?

Another critical attribute of Innis’s staple theory is that a region endowed with staples does not depend for its economic development upon the demand side alone—that is, upon the existence of ever-growing markets for its staple products.

What did Harold Innis believe about Canada?

Harold Innis is considered the leading founder of a Canadian school of economic thought known as the staples theory. It holds that Canada’s culture, political history and economy have been decisively shaped by the exploitation and export of a series of “staples” such as fur, fish, wood, wheat, mined metals and fossil fuels.

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