 a double chronology
 With a focus on politics, which influences the economy
 1914‐1970s: the system brakes down
 wars (real and “cold” ones)
 closed markets
 alternative economic systems
 1980s‐today: the re‐emergence of globalization
 globalization of trade and (later) finance
 collapse of alternative economic systems
 peaceful climate
 1870‐1914: a peaceful interlude or the prelude to warfare?  the “Great” war (1914‐1918)
 destructiveness and the birth of a “challenger to Capitalism” (USSR)
 an end to free‐trade policies
 State intervention in the economic sphere
 the end of the European‐dominated world
 an unexpected chance for the periphery
 USA’s charming Twenties
 1929 crisis and its immediate consequences
 the way out: devaluation and economic self‐
seclusion
 State intervention: US New Deal
 colonial self‐seclusion: UK and France
 Japan’s “co‐prosperity sphere”
 Autarchic solutions: Italy, Germany and USSR
 paving the way to WW II
 World War II and its consequences (1939‐42)
 massive destruction on a global scale
 The «battle» of economies
 European weakness unveiled at last
 The emerging superpowers: USA and USSR
 Decolonization: the role of the periphery
 a common goal: pursuing economic growth

a sketchy description
 State property on behalf of people
 planned economy
 From “socialism in one country” to the communist bloc
 Eastern Europe, China, and more
 Production is the aim
 heavy industry and military needs
 Only the leftovers for proletarian consumers
 Achilles’ heel in the long‐run  a new economic order: Bretton Woods
 fostering free‐trade IMF, World Bank and GATT
 the benefits of a self‐interested aid: ERP
 dollars in exchange of free‐trade
 the “Golden age” of Western economy
 an astonishing growth
 consumerism
 fordism
 energy consumption
 a de‐colonized Periphery: the “Third World”
 the Non‐Alignement Movement
 a set of common problems
 political independence, economic dependence
 demographic burdens and the green Revolution
 rural economies seeking to industrialize
 “Developmentalism” and its consequences
 no worker’s rights, no ecological concerns
 until the 1970s a limited success
 Latin America’s “Conosur” and Asian “Tigers”
 From the 1970s three elements foster the second wave of globalization:  controls on capital movements are lifted
 the collapse of the “challenger of Capitalism”
 China opens to the free‐market
 1970s oil crisis and its consequences
 the fall of Berlin’s wall
 the re‐emergence of China