The Electronic Products Industry of New England

Abstract

EW ENGLAND, in common with other regions of the world with a considerable industrial history, has in the present century faced severe economic difficulties. Up to the time of the Second World War, with grave problems of secular decline in its basic textile industries augmented by serious cyclical depression, there was little to be found of an encouraging nature in the performance of New England's manufacturing industries. To paraphrase a statement (made with reference to Old England) that has achieved considerable attention recently, New England had lost an industrial empire and had not yet found a role.' The Second World War, however, proved to be a turning point in the region's economic history. Under the impetus of war-time demands, in which even the ailing textile industries experienced a brief reprieve from their inexorable path of decline, manufacturing industries of various kinds, but especially those in the metal working classes, received a much needed stimulus, and turned in new directions.