US-led Globalization

In this chapter, Professor Sachs talks about USA-led globalization in the areas of governance, trade and decolonization. When World War II ended, the American economy had remarkable industrial capacity and significant new technological advances. While the second half of the 1900s was characterized by the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union, the US was still able to lead the creation of such institutions as the United Nations, and to press for the opening of global trade and decolonization (while at the same time practicing indirect imperialism). Global economic growth rates doubled from the first to the second half of the century, due to changes in global governance; this enabled the turn from an era of divergence to an era of convergence, which Professor Sachs explain in more detail. The information revolution began in the 1930s; and the computer revolution of the 20th century, the invention of the internet, and technological advances have led to a transformation of the world economy. The age of convergence has made it a world goal to end extreme poverty and to decrease inequality.

This video is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA license.