Globalisation, history and development: a tale of two centuries

This paper situates globalisation in historical perspective to analyse its implications for development. It sketches a picture of globalisation during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A comparison of these two epochs reveals striking parallels, unexpected similarities and important differences. It shows that globalisation did not lead to rapid growth and economic convergence in the world, either then or now. Indeed, growth slowed down, and income levels diverged, while the gap between the industrialised and developing countries widened, in both epochs. The story of globalisation, it turns out, does not conform to the fairy tale about convergence and development.