Editing Decolonization (section)

=== Economic development ===
{{Main|Economic development}}
Newly independent states also had to develop independent economic institutions – a national currency, banks, companies, regulation, tax systems, etc.

Many colonies were serving as resource colonies which produced raw materials and agricultural products, and as a captive market for goods manufactured in the colonizing country. Many decolonized countries created programs to promote [[industrialization]]. Some nationalized industries and infrastructure, and some engaged in [[land reform]] to redistribute land to individual farmers or create collective farms.

Some decolonized countries maintain strong economic ties with the former colonial power. The [[CFA franc]] is a currency shared by 14 countries in West and Central Africa, mostly former French colonies. The CFA franc is guaranteed by the French treasury.

After independence, many countries created regional economic associations to promote trade and economic development among neighboring countries, including the [[Association of Southeast Asian Nations]] (ASEAN), the [[Economic Community of West African States]] (ECOWAS), and the [[Gulf Cooperation Council]].

==== Effects on the colonizers ====
[[John Kenneth Galbraith]] argues that the post–World War II decolonization was brought about for economic reasons. In ''A Journey Through Economic Time'', he writes: <blockquote>"The engine of economic well-being was now within and between the advanced industrial countries. Domestic [[economic growth]] – as now measured and much discussed – came to be seen as far more important than the erstwhile colonial trade.... The economic effect in the United States from the granting of independence to the Philippines was unnoticeable, partly due to the [[Bell Trade Act]], which allowed American monopoly in the economy of the Philippines. The departure of India and Pakistan made small economic difference in the United Kingdom. [[Netherlands|Dutch]] economists calculated that the economic effect from the loss of the great Dutch empire in Indonesia was compensated for by a couple of years or so of domestic post-war economic growth. The end of the colonial era is celebrated in the history books as a triumph of national aspiration in the former colonies and of benign good sense on the part of the colonial powers. Lurking beneath, as so often happens, was a strong current of economic interest – or in this case, disinterest."</blockquote>

In general, the release of the colonized caused little economic loss to the colonizers. Part of the reason for this was that major costs were eliminated while major benefits were obtained by alternate means. Decolonization allowed the colonizer to disclaim responsibility for the colonized. The colonizer no longer had the burden of obligation, financial or otherwise, to their colony. However, the colonizer continued to be able to obtain cheap goods and labor as well as economic benefits (see [[Suez Canal Crisis]]) from the former colonies. Financial, political and military pressure could still be used to achieve goals desired by the colonizer. Thus decolonization allowed the goals of colonization to be largely achieved, but [http://www.e-ir.info/2012/05/22/what-impact-did-decolonisation-have-on-britain/ without its burdens].