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Economic And Political Policies During The First World War (WWI)

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The four decades prior to World War One (WWI) and the three decades after World War Two (WWII) can be characterized as periods of great globalization and economic integration. As different parts of the world grew more interconnected, and the prosperity of one nation became tethered to the prosperity of another, many world actors searched for the right recipe of economic and political policies to help them weather the turbulent global market. In the first era, we see a focus on three pillars as the foundation for the world economic order. This included the gold standard, free trade, and the growth of international finance. In the second era, which proceeded WWII, similar policies were enacted as the world tried to learn from the mistakes made …show more content…

While urging nations to open up trade and allow the free movement of capital, labor and goods, Nathan Rothschild was also monopolizing the diamond market with his colleague Cecil Rhodes. At one point he marveled at the fact that they had cornered 98% of the South African diamond production (37) This short vignette about Rothschild highlights a key point, which is that liberal and mercantilist ideas were used in tandem during this era. While superficially contradictory, these two policies are on in the same. They are the tools through which different actors fulfil their goal of making exorbitant …show more content…

However, they fail to cover the distinct differences between the two time periods. For one, the second era focused more on a harmonious application of these policies through the use of social welfare programs and mixed economic systems. To counteract the unpredictable nature of the business cycle, many governments began to provide safety nets for their citizens. Governments chose to protect citizens against unemployment, sickness, disability, old age, and poverty. This stems from another major distinction between the two eras, which was increased autonomy to pursue polices conducive to domestic prosperity after WWII. In addition, in the second era differnet groups such as political and economic elites as well as capital and labor work together to figure out solutions that are more utilitarian. Finally, as mentioned before, two major camps formed after WWII and they each proposed their own world economic order. This differs from the golden age which only offered global integration or economic retardation. In the post WWII period, the second world and the third world choose to follow their own

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