Kontrabókin. Truck-skipanin í Føroyum 1856-1939

Abstract

This article gives an account of the passbook system - a variant of the truck system - operating in the Faroe Islands from 1856 - 1939, i.e. from the introduction of free trade until the Second World War. This war brought about big economic and political changes in the Faroe Islands. The aim of the article is to explain the background for the origin of the system and to explain the system. The hypothesis is that the passbook system in the Faroe Islands should be regarded as a transitional phenomenon in the development from a kind of moral economy to a more developed capitalistic society. It was a system which undoubtedly
started from humane considerations, but in time became an economic fossil - an economic straightjacket - which under the added pressure of the economic depression in the 1930s brought about the ruin of both employer and employee.