Abstract
The phenomenon of globalization, defined by Michael D. Bordo as 'the increasingly close international integration of markets for goods, services and factors of production, labor and capital', seems to be considered by many of us as a relatively new phenomenon, peculiar to the era we currently live in. Yet, if one questions any economist about this issue, he/she will tell you a completely different story. Every economist agrees on the fact that the world has gone since 1973 through its second wave of globalization, the first one having occurred approximately from 1815 to 1914. Between these two periods, the world experienced two World Wars and a Great Depression. It is thus, entirely justified to try to compare these two eras and to raise the question, are we living exactly what people a hundred years ago lived? To what extent are these two epochs similar and/or different? It appears to me that, although a few similarities can be noticed, these two waves of globalization are fundamentally different in the end. To prove my point, I will first focus on the three well-known dimensions of globalization, that is to say trade, capital and labor; what were the characteristics of these dimensions for both eras of globalization? I will then move on to two other factors which play an important role in helping to understand why we are not currently going through the same globalization as people did a hundred years ago.
