• Economic history: When did globalisation start? | The Economist
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    When did globalisation start?
    Sep 23rd 2013, 9:00 by C.R. | LONDON

    “GLOBALISATION” has become the buzzword of the last two decades. The sudden increase in the exchange of knowledge, trade and capital around the world, driven by technological innovation, from the internet to shipping containers, thrust the term into the limelight.

    Some see globalisation as a good thing. According to Amartya Sen, a Nobel-Prize winning economist, globalisation “has enriched the world scientifically and culturally, and benefited many people economically as well”. The United Nations has even predicted that the forces of globalisation may have the power to eradicate poverty in the 21st century.

    Others disagree. Globalisation has been attacked by critics of free market economics, like the economists Joseph Stiglitz and Ha-Joon Chang, for perpetuating inequality in the world rather than reducing it. Some agree that they may have a point. The International Monetary Fund admitted in 2007 that inequality levels may have been increased by the introduction of new technology and the investment of foreign capital in developing countries. Others, in developed nations, distrust globalisation as well. They fear that it often allows employers to move jobs away to cheaper places. In France, “globalisation” and “délocalisation” have become derogatory terms for free market policies. An April 2012 survey by IFOP, a pollster, found that only 22% of French people thought globalisation a “good thing” for their country.

    However, economic historians reckon the question of whether the benefits of globalisation outweigh the downsides is more complicated than this. For them, the answer depends on when you say the process of globalisation started. But why does it matter whether globalisation started 20, 200, or even 2,000 years ago? Their answer is that it is impossible to say how much of a “good thing” a process is in history without first defining for how long it has been going on.

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  • Financial markets: The removal of a calming hand | The Economist
    http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/09/financial-markets?fsrc=rss

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    The removal of a calming hand
    Sep 18th 2013, 15:08 by C.W. | LONDON
    SPECULATION is a dirty word. Market punters are often blamed for pushing securities prices from extreme to extreme, generating crises along the way. New regulations have half-heartedly tried to limit the worst excesses. 

    But some argue that another government force is buoying the speculators. To soothe worried markets, central banks have embarked on an ambitious programme of unconventional monetary policy. Measures such as quantitative easing (QE)—printing money to buy things like government bonds and mortgage securities—are in vogue. 

    Unconventional monetary policy has been attacked for prompting further financial gaming. With piles of cash to play with, the argument goes, investors have bid up prices of equities, bonds, and commodities. Stocks and shares have certainly been on the up. From a low in 2009—just after QE began—World Bank commodity price indices have increased by over 50%. The FTSE 100, an index of stock prices in Britain, has nearly reached its all-time high. 

    But a new paper from the International Monetary Fund suggests that unconventional monetary policies (UMPs) do not encourage speculation. Rather, they dampen it. UMPs reduce “tail risk”, or the odds of extreme market outcomes like hyperinflation or a new Depression. That, in turn, tamps down market volatility, and that reduces the incentive to speculate. When America announces that it will purchase more mortgage-backed securities or government bonds, markets quickly price in lower volatility. Risk measures can drop by 10% after the Federal Reserve makes unconventional monetary policy announcements, according to the IMF paper.

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  • Economic history: Did living standards improve during the Industrial Revolution? | The Economist

    http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/09/economic-history-0?fsrc=scn/fb/wl/bl/didlivingstandardsimproveduringtheindustrialrevolution

    Did living standards improve during the Industrial Revolution?
    Sep 13th 2013, 13:43 by C.W. | LONDON

    AS WE showed in a previous blog post, Europe went through a period of astonishing growth after about 1760. The level of income that Europe has today could not have been reached without the Industrial Revolution.

    http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/290-width-retina/images/2013/09/blogs/free-exchange/20130921_woc404_580.png

    In fact, people often refer to two revolutions (though historians bicker about terminology). The First Industrial Revolution was about the introduction of machines, often powered with water or steam. It lasted from roughly 1760 to 1850. The Second Industrial Revolution used more advanced technologies, such as the internal combustion engine and electricity. It lasted from roughly 1850 to 1910.

    We know that the Industrial Revolution made Europe rich. But what was it like to live through it? Britain has the most complete historical records when it comes to this kind of thing, so this post will focus on that country.

    #royaime-uni #histoire #économie #révolution_industrielle #visualisation