The Evolution of the Global Economy: From the First Era of Globalization to the COVID Pandemic

Author(s): Michael Jolly

Edition: 4

Copyright: 2021

Pages: 200

Choose Your Format

Choose Your Platform | Help Me Choose

Ebook Package

$66.41

ISBN 9781792486487

Details eBook w/Ancillary 3 180 days

Until very recently it was possible to believe that we were living in a new world in which the economic problems of the past had little or no relevance.   The subprime mortgage crisis of 2008, along with the subsequent ‘Great Recession’ and sovereign debt crisis, shattered this complacency.

The Global Economy: From the Great Depression to the Great Recession examines the worrisome similarities between these two periods.  By understanding how economic institutions developed, how the world economy has / and is still evolving, and through some familiarity with the similarities and differences between our current problems and the problems of the recent past, we gain a sense of perspective and some guidance as to the nature of the challenges facing the global economic system.

The Global Economy: From the Great Depression to the Great Recession:

  • Features an opening chapter that introduces some of the basic building blocks and terminology of international macroeconomics.
  • Provides an historical account of the international economy between the two world wars with an emphasis on the causes and economic consequences of the Great Depression of the 1930s.
  • Describes the Bretton Woods System of fixed exchange rates, which was in operation throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and the development of the international institutions that play such a prominent part in the international economy today.
  • Describes and discusses some current and recent developments in the global economy, including international crises, regional trade agreements, the ‘BRICS’ emerging economies, and the ‘development states’ of East Asia.

Chapter 1 Some Economic Concepts: Macroeconomics and the Global Economy
Some National Accounting Definitions
Trade and Protectionism
The Balance of Payments
Exchange Rates
Fiscal and Monetary Policy
REFERENCES

Chapter 2 The First Era of Globalization
The First Era of Globalization and the Second Industrial Revolution
Globalization Through Imperialism
International Trade
Factor Mobility
Exchange Rate Stability and the Classical Gold Standard
Monetary Policy in the Era of the Gold Standard
REFERENCES

Chapter 3 Legacy of the First World War
First World War and the Economic Role of Government
Immediate Costs of the War
The Postwar Boom and Slump
Hyperinflation
Restoration of the Gold Standard
The Chain of Debt
Changing Patterns of Production and Demand
International Trade
Demographic Changes
Protectionism
Diminishing Trade
REFERENCES

Chapter 4 The Great Depression
Introduction
The Depression in the United States
Monetarism and Wage Rigidity
Wage Rigidity
Other Explanations of the Depression in the United States
Recovery and the Recession of 1937–1938
International Aspects of the Depression
The International Economy, 1933–1940
The Great Depression and the Great Recession
REFERENCES

Chapter 5 Bretton Woods and the International Institutions
The Legacy of the Second World War
The Marshall Plan and the European Payments Union
The Bretton Woods System
The Triffin Dilemma
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
The World Trade Organization
The Rise and Fall of the Bretton Woods System, 1947–1973
Post-Bretton Woods
Labour and Environmental Issues and the International Institutions
REFERENCES

Chapter 6 International Institutions and International Financial Crises
Macroeconomic Imbalances
Contagion
Globalization and Capital Mobility
Crisis Avoidance
Role of the IMF and the World Bank
Major International Economic Crises Since 1980
REFERENCES

Chapter 7 Regional Trade Agreements
Trade Creation and Trade Diversion
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
USMCA
The European Union (EU)
The European Sovereign Debt Crisis
Brexit
MERCOSUR
REFERENCES

Chapter 8 The Soviet Union and the Socialist Economies of Europe
Historical Development of the Soviet Economic System
Collectivization of Agriculture in the USSR
Economic Planning in the Soviet Union and the Other Socialist Economies
Attempts at Reform
The Socialist Economies of Central and Eastern Europe
Comecon
Failure of the Socialist Economies
REFERENCES

Chapter 9 Emerging Economies: The BRICS Countries
Russia
China
China and Russia: “Shock Therapy” versus “Gradualism”
India
Brazil
What Went Wrong?
South Africa
REFERENCES

Chapter 10 East Asia: The Development State
Economic Growth and Exports
Japan
The Emerging Economies of East Asia
REFERENCES

Chapter 11 The Middle East and Africa
OPEC and the Oil-Exporting States
Non-Oil-Exporting States
The Arab Spring
Sub-Saharan Africa
REFERENCES

Chapter 12 Epilogue
The COVID-19 Pandemic and the ‘Great Lockdown’
Comparisons with the ‘Great Recession’
Lessons from Previous Pandemics
The Spanish Flu
Conclusions
REFERENCES

Index

Michael Jolly

Michael Jolly received his PhD from the University of Toronto after receiving degrees from Auckland University and the London School of Economics. He currently teaches in the Department of Economics at Ryerson University in Toronto and has previously taught at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon and Auckland University in New Zealand. His primary research interests are in international economics, economic history, and the Asian economies.

Until very recently it was possible to believe that we were living in a new world in which the economic problems of the past had little or no relevance.   The subprime mortgage crisis of 2008, along with the subsequent ‘Great Recession’ and sovereign debt crisis, shattered this complacency.

The Global Economy: From the Great Depression to the Great Recession examines the worrisome similarities between these two periods.  By understanding how economic institutions developed, how the world economy has / and is still evolving, and through some familiarity with the similarities and differences between our current problems and the problems of the recent past, we gain a sense of perspective and some guidance as to the nature of the challenges facing the global economic system.

The Global Economy: From the Great Depression to the Great Recession:

  • Features an opening chapter that introduces some of the basic building blocks and terminology of international macroeconomics.
  • Provides an historical account of the international economy between the two world wars with an emphasis on the causes and economic consequences of the Great Depression of the 1930s.
  • Describes the Bretton Woods System of fixed exchange rates, which was in operation throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and the development of the international institutions that play such a prominent part in the international economy today.
  • Describes and discusses some current and recent developments in the global economy, including international crises, regional trade agreements, the ‘BRICS’ emerging economies, and the ‘development states’ of East Asia.

Chapter 1 Some Economic Concepts: Macroeconomics and the Global Economy
Some National Accounting Definitions
Trade and Protectionism
The Balance of Payments
Exchange Rates
Fiscal and Monetary Policy
REFERENCES

Chapter 2 The First Era of Globalization
The First Era of Globalization and the Second Industrial Revolution
Globalization Through Imperialism
International Trade
Factor Mobility
Exchange Rate Stability and the Classical Gold Standard
Monetary Policy in the Era of the Gold Standard
REFERENCES

Chapter 3 Legacy of the First World War
First World War and the Economic Role of Government
Immediate Costs of the War
The Postwar Boom and Slump
Hyperinflation
Restoration of the Gold Standard
The Chain of Debt
Changing Patterns of Production and Demand
International Trade
Demographic Changes
Protectionism
Diminishing Trade
REFERENCES

Chapter 4 The Great Depression
Introduction
The Depression in the United States
Monetarism and Wage Rigidity
Wage Rigidity
Other Explanations of the Depression in the United States
Recovery and the Recession of 1937–1938
International Aspects of the Depression
The International Economy, 1933–1940
The Great Depression and the Great Recession
REFERENCES

Chapter 5 Bretton Woods and the International Institutions
The Legacy of the Second World War
The Marshall Plan and the European Payments Union
The Bretton Woods System
The Triffin Dilemma
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
The World Trade Organization
The Rise and Fall of the Bretton Woods System, 1947–1973
Post-Bretton Woods
Labour and Environmental Issues and the International Institutions
REFERENCES

Chapter 6 International Institutions and International Financial Crises
Macroeconomic Imbalances
Contagion
Globalization and Capital Mobility
Crisis Avoidance
Role of the IMF and the World Bank
Major International Economic Crises Since 1980
REFERENCES

Chapter 7 Regional Trade Agreements
Trade Creation and Trade Diversion
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
USMCA
The European Union (EU)
The European Sovereign Debt Crisis
Brexit
MERCOSUR
REFERENCES

Chapter 8 The Soviet Union and the Socialist Economies of Europe
Historical Development of the Soviet Economic System
Collectivization of Agriculture in the USSR
Economic Planning in the Soviet Union and the Other Socialist Economies
Attempts at Reform
The Socialist Economies of Central and Eastern Europe
Comecon
Failure of the Socialist Economies
REFERENCES

Chapter 9 Emerging Economies: The BRICS Countries
Russia
China
China and Russia: “Shock Therapy” versus “Gradualism”
India
Brazil
What Went Wrong?
South Africa
REFERENCES

Chapter 10 East Asia: The Development State
Economic Growth and Exports
Japan
The Emerging Economies of East Asia
REFERENCES

Chapter 11 The Middle East and Africa
OPEC and the Oil-Exporting States
Non-Oil-Exporting States
The Arab Spring
Sub-Saharan Africa
REFERENCES

Chapter 12 Epilogue
The COVID-19 Pandemic and the ‘Great Lockdown’
Comparisons with the ‘Great Recession’
Lessons from Previous Pandemics
The Spanish Flu
Conclusions
REFERENCES

Index

Michael Jolly

Michael Jolly received his PhD from the University of Toronto after receiving degrees from Auckland University and the London School of Economics. He currently teaches in the Department of Economics at Ryerson University in Toronto and has previously taught at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon and Auckland University in New Zealand. His primary research interests are in international economics, economic history, and the Asian economies.