By 1950 Singapore had largely recovered from the devastation of World War II, and again began to develop economically. The present chapter traces the course of this development to 1959. In assessing Singapore's pre-World War II economic growth and free trade inheritance, section I sums up the arguments of Part Two of this book, and puts them in the context of post-war development. The remainder of the chapter deals with the 1950s. Section II looks at Singapore's trade, which remained that of a staple port. In section III, the linkages arising from this trade through the expansion of infrastructure, manufacturing industry and financial development are examined. During the 1950s the decisive changes in Singapore were demographic and political, the subjects of sections IV and V respectively.