The

Globalization
of World
Economics
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) regards
"economic globalization" as a historical process
representing the result of human innovation and
technological progress. It is characterized by the
increasing integration of economies around the world
through the movement of goods, services, and capital
across borders. These changes are the products of
people, organizations, institutions, and technologies.
 International Trading Systems

International trading systems are not new. The oldest known international
trade route was the Silk Road-a network of pathways in the ancient world
that spanned from China to what is now the Middle East and to Europe. It
was called as such because one of the most profitable products traded
through this network was silk, which was highly prized especially in the
area that is now the Middle East as well as in the West (today's Europe).
Traders used the Silk Road regularly from 130 BCE when the Chinese
Han dynasty opened trade to the West until 1453 BCE when the Ottoman
Empire closed it.
According to historians Dennis O. Flynn and Arturo Giraldez,
the age of globalization began when "all important
populated continents began to exchange products
continuously both with each other directly and indirectly
via other continents and in values sufficient to generate
crucial impacts on all trading partners." Flynn and
Giraldez trace this back to 1571 with the establishment of
the galleon trade that connected Manila in the Philippines
and Acapulco in Mexico." This was the first time that the
Americas were directly connected to Asian trading routes.
For Filipinos, it is crucial to note that economic globalization
began on the country's shores.
A more open trade system emerged in 1867 when,
following the lead of the United Kingdom, the United
States and other European nations adopted the gold
standard at an international monetary conference in
Paris, Broadly, its goal was to create a common system
that would allow for more efficient trade and prevent the
isolationism of the mercantilist era. The countries thus
established a common basis for currency prices and a
fixed exchange rate system-all based on the value of
gold.
This depression was the worst and longest
recession ever experienced by the Western
world. Some economists argued that it was
largely caused by the gold standard, since it
limited the amount of circulating money and
therefore, reduced demand and consumption,
Economic historian Barry Eichengreen argues that the recovery
of the United States really began when, having abandoned the
gold standard, the US government was able to free up money to
spend on reviving the economy. At the height of World War II,
other major industrialized countries followed suit.