The End of Globalization: Lessons from the Great Depression

The End of Globalization: Lessons from the Great Depression. By Harold James. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001. vi + 260 pp. Index, notes, figures, tables. Cloth, $39.95. ISBN 0-674-00474-4.

At the end of the twentieth century the world economy was in turmoil. There were major economic problems in Russia. The financial markets in many East Asian countries were close to chaos, and economies were experiencing highly volatile exchange rates. Was globalization, the opening up of economies to trade and capital movements, a good thing after all? The decision by Malaysia at this time to act against much advice and impose restrictions, a decision followed by (but not …