CR 20:153-166 (2002)  -  doi:10.3354/cr020153

¹Most economists dismiss Jevons¹ approach to economic cycles as mechanical and simplistic. In fact his theory is neither. Jevons started with the observation that it is not possible to find a solar cycle in European grain prices (Jevons 1884, p. 231). To get a more convincing theory of the British cycle, he considered fluctuations in trade with India, where on average the sunspot cycle is correlated with periodic famines. The demand shocks in India are then transmitted to the British economy via trade links. We are most grateful to a referee of this journal for elaborating this point