Pick a factor and test it against the evidence.
Which factor best explains the growth of the global economy?
US leadership
- Marshall Plan and Bretton Woods.
- An open US market for imports.
The USA supplied the money, rules and markets that others used.
Its dominance declined after 1971.
Post-war reconstruction
- Demand for rebuilding.
- Catch-up with American technology.
It explains the speed of growth in the Golden Age.
Its effect faded once rebuilding was complete.
Multinational corporations
- Offshore electronics assembly.
- A third of world trade within firms by the 1990s.
MNCs spread capital and technology and tied economies together.
They relied on open rules and host-government policies.
International organisations
- GATT tariff cuts.
- The WTO from 1995.
Stable rules lowered the cost and risk of trade.
They depended on their members, especially the USA.