Is today's globalization different from globalization a hundred years ago? - publié le 26/03/2008

Résumé du document

Michael D. Bordo, Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Monetary and Financial History at Rutgers University, says, in Globalization in Historical Perspective (2002), says "globalization has become a buzzword of the new millennium". Indeed the term globalization is now part of our current language and globalization is nowadays probably the most widely used word: politicians, journalists and others such as firm managers or even ordinary people often use the word. Globalization has been one of the most hotly debated topics in international economics over the past few years. So it is clear that it is a phenomenon that is the subject of numerous comments or analysis. The term is used in a lot of different contexts, but in contemporary jargon it principally refers to economic globalization.

Extraits

[...] And thanks to the industrial revolution, developments were far more rapid in the 19th and the 20th centuries. But technologies were not the only force driving globalization. Otherwise, we would not have witnessed two waves of globalization, but a continuous process. This period ended up with the beaking out of the First World War (1914). During the period between 1815 and 1914, we witnessed a huge reduction of transport costs thanks to the expansion of industry, a reduction of communication costs and the abolition of trade barriers. [...]

[...] People mainly fled from Europe to the United States, Australia and Latin America because during the decades before 1914, Europe was experiencing a lot of farm crisis, because, because of trade, prices collapsed, and these countries were offering a lot of opportunities for those fleeing people. Famers had no choice but to migrate if they did not want to suffer or die. Unskilled labour could thus migrate in order to get better wages. But this did not last, as high-income countries soon tried to regulate immigration implementing hard restrictions on it. While today we have great liberalization in trade and capital, it is quite the opposite concerning people's migration. There is no more mass migration. We can thus say that labour is less mobile today. [...]

[...] Still, if there is no doubt that today's globalization is different from globalization a hundred years ago, it is also important to notice that both of them had have and have an impact on rising inequality, which is currently the great debate concerning globalization, as people talk about winners and losers. References Baldwin, Richard E., Martin, Philippe (1999), Two Waves of Globalisation: Superficial Similarities, Fundamental Differences Frieden, Jeffry (2004), Will Global Capitalism Fall Again? Michael D. Bordo (2002), Globalization in Historical Perspective Michael D. Bordo, Barry Eichengreen, and Douglas A. Irwin (May 1999), Is Globalization Today Really Different Than Globalization a Hundred Years Ago? [...]

[...] Conclusion Today's globalization and globalization a hundred years ago present both ressemblances and differences. So as it is true to say that they different, it is also true to say that they are not completely different. The first thing to note is that historical backgrounds and political contexts were absolutely not the same. The first wave of globalization occurred without anyone trying to make it happen, (just like if it was destined to occur) contrary to the second one, that was entirely intentional and backed up by governments and institutions. [...]

[...] For the first wave of globalization, and concerning inequalities between countries we notice that participating countries gain on non participating ones. Among participants migration reduced inequalities more than capital flows raised them. Freer trade may have reduced inequalities with exceptions. Within countries, globalization raised inequalities in the New World and reduced it in participating old world nations. For the second wave of globalization, and concerning inequalities between countries it is quite clear that globalized trade and migration narrowed the gaps among participants. Non-participants fell further behind. [...]