Question

What do you think is most important about the history of economic globalization?

Answer 1

People traded commodities for nearly as long as they were alive. But a peculiar trend has arisen since the 1st century BC. Luxury products from China began to appear on the other side of the Eurasian continent for the first time in history–in Rome. They got there after being dragged along the Silk Road for thousands of miles. Trade had ceased to be a local or regional affair and started to become international. The Silk Road would survive in part because the road was dominated by two great empires. When commerce was disrupted, it was most likely due to blockades by Rome or China's regional enemies.

Spices were the main focus of Islamic commerce in the Middle Ages. Spices have been traded primarily by sea since ancient times, unlike silk. But they had become the real object of international trade through the medieval era. The cloves, nutmeg and mace from the splendid Spice Islands–Indonesia's Maluku Islands were the chief among them. They are extremely expensive and demanding, including in Europe. But as with silk, they remained a luxury product, and relatively low volume of trade remained. Globalization has not yet taken off, but the initial trade between East and West in the Belt (sea route) and Road (Silk Road) has now occurred.The planet was rocked by the Age of Discovery. Columbus's most (in)famous "discovery" was America's, which destroyed allbutpre-Colombian cultures. Yet Magellan's circumnavigation was the most important exploration: it opened the door to the Spice Islands, shutting out Arab and Italian intermediaries. Although trade remained low compared to total GDP once again, it definitely changed the lives of people. Europe introduced onions, tomatoes, coffee and chocolate, and spice prices fell steeply.

The "American" Industrial Revolution made a fantastic global trade twin engine. Steamships and trains, on the other hand, are able to transport goods for thousands of miles, both within countries and across continents. On the other hand, its industrialization allowed Britain to produce products that were in demand throughout the world, such as steel, textiles and manufactured goods. Although Britain was the nation that gained most from this globalization, since it had the most resources and technology, many did so by exporting other goods as well. For example, in the 1870s, the invention of the cooled cargo ship or "refer ship" enabled countries like Argentina and Uruguay to reach their golden age.