The Great Convergence: Information Technology and the New Globalization - Softcover

Baldwin, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0674237846 ISBN 13: 9780674237841

Publisher: Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press, 2019

Synopsis

An Economist Best Book of the Year
A Financial Times Best Economics Book of the Year
A Fast Company “7 Books Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Says You Need to Lead Smarter”

Between 1820 and 1990, the share of world income going to today’s wealthy nations soared from twenty percent to almost seventy. Since then, that share has plummeted to where it was in 1900. As the renowned economist Richard Baldwin reveals, this reversal of fortune reflects a new age of globalization that is drastically different from the old. The nature of globalization has changed, but our thinking about it has not.

Baldwin argues that the New Globalization is driven by knowledge crossing borders, not just goods. That is why its impact is more sudden, more individual, more unpredictable, and more uncontrollable than before―which presents developed nations with unprecedented challenges as they struggle to maintain reliable growth and social cohesion. It is the driving force behind what Baldwin calls “The Great Convergence,” as Asian economies catch up with the West.

“In this brilliant book, Baldwin has succeeded in saying something both new and true about globalization.”
―Martin Wolf, Financial Times

“A very powerful description of the newest phase of globalization.”
―Larry Summers, former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury

“An essential book for understanding how modern trade works via global supply chains. An antidote to the protectionist nonsense being peddled by some politicians today.”
―The Economist

“[An] indispensable guide to understanding how globalization has got us here and where it is likely to take us next.”
―Alan Beattie, Financial Times

About this title

About the Author

Richard Baldwin is Professor of International Economics at the Graduate Institute, Geneva, and President of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), London.

Review

“An essential book for understanding how modern trade works via global supply chains. An antidote to the protectionist nonsense being peddled by some politicians today.”―The Economist

“[An] excellent book...Baldwin’s work seems likely to become a standard, perhaps indispensable, guide to understanding how globalization has got us here and where it is likely to take us next. There can be few more vital subjects today that will benefit from this sort of clear and comprehensive exposition.”―Alan Beattie, Financial Times

“Will surprise and illumine.”―Paul Collier, Times Literary Supplement

“There is much in this book to ponder.”―Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution

“In this brilliant book, Baldwin has succeeded in saying something both new and true about globalization.”―Martin Wolf, Financial Times

“Many books deal with various features of globalization. Only Baldwin’s deals with the logic of globalization. Globalization happens when the movement of goods, knowledge, and people is technologically possible and cheap enough to encompass the entire world. The first globalization was built on the movement of goods, the one we live today on the movement of knowledge and information, the next one will be built on the movement of people. It is a must-read for those who want to learn about the past and to peer into the future.”―Branko Milanovic, City University of New York

“Sheds a bright light on the nature of trade in today’s era―the ‘second globalization’ since the industrial revolution.”―Martin Wolf, Financial Times

“The first part of this book offers a breathtaking overview of the four phases of globalization that Baldwin argues have taken place during the past 200,000 years.”―G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs

“It’s a very powerful description of the newest phase of globalization.”―Larry Summers, Five Books

“Offers a valuable summary of how we got to where we are now. It’s a narrative that bears retelling.”―Jane Humphries, Times Literary Supplement

Edition details

• Publisher: Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0674237846
• ISBN 13: 9780674237841
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 344