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Prior to world war I, the economy was pretty globalized and numerous e.g. german companies had a big US presence, and vice versa. Trade did not prevent a war th

Prior to world war I, the economy was pretty globalized and numerous e.g. german companies had a big US presence, and vice versa. Trade did not prevent a war then...

gcb0 10y ago
in fact it made it worse. the germans attacked the serbs because they were so integrated into the empire that a few of them were very rich. war meant leaving bank accounts and those business spots open for the taking. and later on, Japan attacked the US because it was afraid its only source of oil would block them out.
pmontra 10y ago
Globalized but not nearly as much as today. Looking at https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c4280.html https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c4280.html USA-Germany, million of dollars 1985 Exports: 9,050.2 Imports: 20,239.2 2015 Exports: 44,997.8 Imports: 104,553.9 It grew 5 times in 20 years. I'm googling for the value in the 30s and can't find it quicky enough. My bet is that it was much lower because according to http://unstats.un.org/unsd/trade/imts/Historical%20data%201900-1960.pdf http://unstats.un.org/unsd/trade/imts/Historical%20data%2019... the whole imports of Germany were 2,188 million of dollars. The total exports were 2,111 million USD. You'll also notice US imports and exports plummeting in the 30s. It seems a consequence of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot%E2%80%93Hawley_Tariff_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot%E2%80%93Hawley_Tariff_Ac... which "raised U.S. tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods". Then > "In May 1930, Canada, the country's most loyal trading partner, retaliated by imposing new tariffs on 16 products that accounted altogether for around 30% of US exports to Canada.[15] Canada later also forged closer economic links with the British Empire via the British Empire Economic Conference of 1932. France and Britain protested and developed new trade partners. Germany developed a system of autarky." Autarky doesn't help trade for sure. > "US imports decreased 66% from $4.4 billion (1929) to $1.5 billion (1933), and exports decreased 61% from $5.4 billion to $2.1 billion. GNP fell from $103.1 billion in 1929 to $75.8 billion in 1931 and bottomed out at $55.6 billion in 1933.[18] Imports from Europe decreased from a 1929 high of $1.3 billion to just $390 million during 1932, while US exports to Europe decreased from $2.3 billion in 1929 to $784 million in 1932. Overall, world trade decreased by some 66% between 1929 and 1934.[19]" Historical experiments are hard to make but looking at what happened back then there is a chance that peoples not talking to each other make them less friendly and more prone to go at war.

Prior to world war I, the economy was pretty globalized and numerous e.g. german companies had a big US presence, and vice versa. Trade did not prevent a war then...

gcb0 10y ago

in fact it made it worse. the germans attacked the serbs because they were so integrated into the empire that a few of them were very rich. war meant leaving bank accounts and those business spots open for the taking. and later on, Japan attacked the US because it was afraid its only source of oil would block them out.

pmontra 10y ago

Globalized but not nearly as much as today. Looking at https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c4280.html https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c4280.html USA-Germany, million of dollars 1985 Exports: 9,050.2 Imports: 20,239.2 2015 Exports: 44,997.8 Imports: 104,553.9 It grew 5 times in 20 years. I'm googling for the value in the 30s and can't find it quicky enough. My bet is that it was much lower because according to http://unstats.un.org/unsd/trade/imts/Historical%20data%201900-1960.pdf http://unstats.un.org/unsd/trade/imts/Historical%20data%2019... the whole imports of Germany were 2,188 million of dollars. The total exports were 2,111 million USD. You'll also notice US imports and exports plummeting in the 30s. It seems a consequence of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot%E2%80%93Hawley_Tariff_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot%E2%80%93Hawley_Tariff_Ac... which "raised U.S. tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods". Then > "In May 1930, Canada, the country's most loyal trading partner, retaliated by imposing new tariffs on 16 products that accounted altogether for around 30% of US exports to Canada.[15] Canada later also forged closer economic links with the British Empire via the British Empire Economic Conference of 1932. France and Britain protested and developed new trade partners. Germany developed a system of autarky." Autarky doesn't help trade for sure. > "US imports decreased 66% from $4.4 billion (1929) to $1.5 billion (1933), and exports decreased 61% from $5.4 billion to $2.1 billion. GNP fell from $103.1 billion in 1929 to $75.8 billion in 1931 and bottomed out at $55.6 billion in 1933.[18] Imports from Europe decreased from a 1929 high of $1.3 billion to just $390 million during 1932, while US exports to Europe decreased from $2.3 billion in 1929 to $784 million in 1932. Overall, world trade decreased by some 66% between 1929 and 1934.[19]" Historical experiments are hard to make but looking at what happened back then there is a chance that peoples not talking to each other make them less friendly and more prone to go at war.