World economic integration is not a new thing and by 1600, some had taken place as far as world economic integration is concerned. In ancient times, distant civilizations participated in some kind of communication and trade. From the time of Marco Polo travel which is more than seven centuries ago to 1600, global economic integration involving communication, factor movements, and trade has constantly been on the rise. However, world economic integration as a process has not been that smooth. This is because it has not proved beneficial to all those who have been impacted by it. Despite the existence of several factors such as the collapse of the Roman Empire which have occasional interrupted, the general trend among different societies globally has been a rise in world economic integration.
By the 16 th -century world economic integration had significantly been realized as a result of technological improvement in communication and transport means. This has led to a reduction in the costs of transporting goods, production factors, and services. The next chapter in trade happened thanks to Islamic merchants. As the new religion spread in all directions, it helped globalize trade. By 900, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean trade were mainly dominated by the Muslim traders before spreading as far as Moorish Spain and Indonesia. During this period Islamic trade focused mainly on spices. They represented the true focus of international trade by the medieval era focusing on the mace, nutmeg, and cloves. These items originated from the Fabled Spice Islands (the Maluku Islands in Indonesia). Due to their high demand back then, they were very expensive over the worlds including Europe. Silk trade remained relatively low as silk remained a luxury item. Economic globalization did not take off although the Road/Silk Road and the original Belt, also known as sea route of trade between west and east was non-existent. True trade globalization took off during the Discovery Age. This era started in late 1500 and it is the time when European explorer made a big step by connecting the West and East. This led to the accidental discovery of the Americas. The trade globalization was largely promoted by the “Scientific Revolution” in shipping, astronomy, physics, and mechanics. This led to the initial discovery of new lands by the Spanish, Portuguese, English, and Dutch which were then subjugated before being integrated into their economies.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The Discovery Age led to significant world economic integration with the major discovery being the Columbus’ “discovery” of America. This discovery is believed to have brought the end to pre-Colombian civilizations. However, Magellan’s circumnavigation was the most consequential exploration as it paved the way to the Spice Islands while cutting out the Italian and Arab middlemen. The trade at this time changed the lives of those involved despite it being relatively small compared to total GDP. This is because there was an introduction of coffee, chocolate, tomatoes, and potatoes in Europe as the cost of spices fell significantly.
Modern economists, however, do not consider this era as an era of true world economic integration. Certainly, this is an era when trade became global and the Age of discovery was started as a result of trade although the subsequent world economy remained low. Various European empires introduced global supply chains mainly with their colonies. Additional, their colonial model was majorly based on exploitation and slave trade which is regarded as a shameful legacy. This led to the creation of both a colonial and mercantilist instead of a truly global or world economy. Moreover, societies and individuals’ tastes did not universally favor the prospect of taking advantage of the decreasing costs of communication and transportation via increased economic integration.
