Furthering the debate on globalization’s origins: New evidence

Edward P. Leffler, King’s College LondonFollow

Abstract

Throughout recorded human history there have been small shifts in how humans have interacted with each other. The ancient empires of the Far East, Near East, and Europe emerged from the city and city-states, tribe and communities began to trade with each other, written language allowed for the transference of knowledge between cultures and across the span of time. Of these monumental shifts there have been few. The most recent of these event thresholds is Globalization. Globalization is here, for our benefit or loss, and has begun to affect every part of our society: from the goods we consume, to the money we use, to the music we listen to, to the people we are friends with. Subsequently, one of the most prevalent questions in most social science literature is: How long has Globalization been around? By examining literature on multiple sides of the globalization discourse, specifically new evidence from social scientists examining greater arrays of early traded commodities, this paper will further the argument that economic globalization began in the early 16^thcentury with the birth and expansion of inter-continental trade between the New World, Asia, and Europe. At the same time, this paper will refute the opposing arguments against this theory and the opposing theory that Globalization has only really began in the early 20^thcentury.

Keywords

globalization, commodity price convergence, early globalization, early modern trade, global trade disruption

Chinese Abstract

全球化起源的深入探讨：新证据

纵观有记载的人类历史，人类相互沟通的方式仅仅发生了微小的变化。古代的远东帝国，近东和欧洲从城市和城邦崛起，部落和乡村相互间进行贸易往来，书面文字加强了文化和时间跨度的知识交流与传播。具有里程碑式的转变是非常稀少的。历史上最近一次此类变革便是全球化。全球化意味着利益或损失的存在，它开始影响我们社会的方方面面：从消费的商品，使用的金钱，所聆听的音乐，一直到我们结交的朋友都和全球化息息相关。有鉴于此，在社会科学文献中最普遍的问题是，全球化已经存在了多久？通过梳理不同视角对全球化的论述，借助社会科学家探索早期大规模的商品贸易的新证据，本文将进一步论证经济全球化始于16世纪早期，伴随着新世界，亚洲和欧洲间跨洲贸易的诞生。与此同时，本文否定了对此理论的反对意见，并反驳了全球化开始于20世纪早期的说法。

关键词: 全球化，商品价格收敛，早期全球化，早期现代贸易，全球贸易中断

DOI

10.5038/2640-6489.1.1.1001

Recommended Citation

Leffler, P. E. (2016). Furthering the debate on globalization’s origins: New evidence. International Interdisciplinary Business-Economics Advancement Journal, 1(1), 11-18. https://www.doi.org/10.5038/2640-6489.1.1.1001