The rebirth of Malta's economy : economic, social and political challenges of Malta during the 1960s and 1970s

Abstract

This thesis is an attempt to analyze how the Maltese islands ended their economic dependence on the colonial ruler. This subject is a recent historical phenomenon and thus the historiography of the subject is very limited and this is why my main points of references were official government sources and statistics. Moreover many of the texts and articles which are being written by locals are imbued with bias in favour or against a particular political party, and thus I took articles by foreign writers as my departing point in an attempt to avoid the political rhetoric which has invaded the historiography of the modern period of Maltese history. These included John Dowdall, Russell King and R.W Beeley. Until now only the works of local economists come near to full objectivity on the said period, and the works of Lino Spiteri and Lino Briguglio were essential for my analysis.