International Economy and the Factors that Favours its Development in the 19th Century - Coursework Example

The international economy Name of student Institution Bachelor level The main features of international economy and the factors that favours its development in the 19th century Introduction The international political economy is a way in which the economy gets analysed through a discipline that lies within the political sciences docket. The economy is greatly influenced by the social and cultural practices. It is also referred to as the global political economy. The politics played a big role back in the 19th century. Mainly during the world war where there was a drastic decline of transport cost. This elevated the chances of having a successful and germination of the economy. International economy is the state of the trade where the goods and services are exchanged over the international borders of different territories. The success of the international trade was a great step towards nourishment of the international economy. Political economics advocates that, for the success of businesses across borders and within the borders, there should be sprouting of new global markets. These markets requires the companies to provide services, labour and goods as well as law materials. The global economy has taken a new shape where the GDP reflected some notable increment. The success of an economy is when the goods and services are easily accessible at lower opportunity costs and marginal cost. This is when there is a mutual exchange of benefits. These benefits are the ones that are used to ensure that the international trade remains competitive and essential. Due to these reasons the international economy has some features that are constantly being improved. This essay will focus on the features of the international economy and some of the factors that participated in the development of the international economy during the 19th century. The features of the international economy in 19th century Trade agreements There has been huge development of trading agreement between different territories. The establishment became essential feature till today where the modern governments are signing for preferential trading agreements. There are also developed special economic zones where the country’s laws are overridden by the customs regulations that are more libertarian (Chung, 2006). There are several special economic zone; the industrial parks, free trade zones and free ports. The main objective of the introduction of this feature was to make it easier for the foreigners to easily invest in other countries directly. The free trade zone are the areas in a country where goods can be reconfigured and be re-exported without the intervention of the custom authorities (Araim, 1991). They are found in areas where there are geographical advantages such as the seaports, national frontiers and the international airports. Economic blocs and nationalism Many countries promulgated the economic nationalism in the late 19th century which impacted the development of industries in countries like the United States and Germany (Stern, 2001). It was evident that they started embracing domestic production which was fostered by prominent people like the Alexander Hamilton, Friedrich List and Henry clay (Araim, 1991). The national political economy in the Britain under the rule of Elizabeth I, put emphases on the stages of growth and development. This proved influential for Germany and also for the US as well. Nationalist policies were being undertaken by the Politian Henry Clay who was succeeded by Abraham Lincoln. They were under the potential influence of the national economist Henry Carey Charles (Araim, 1991). These key changes were also evident in the Japan as it developed during the 19th century (Chung, 2006). They were preceded by the four Asian tigers who joined the development scheme under the economic nationalism feature; Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea. China was also significantly adept to the development through the country’s politician who embraced the economic nationalism. All these countries de-emphasised on colonies to ensure safe and free economical niches with the foreign countries for increased development (as cited in United Nations, 2001). Trade zones They are also referred to as the special economic zones i.e. (SEZ). These are zones that are alienated from the actual government regulations and laws. The taxes and custom duties are more libertarian and are out of the control of the domestic country. Here the agreements that are signed by the interacting countries applies despite the constitutional regulations of a certain country. This was tailored with an aim of increasing the investments that were done by the foreigners. The economy of several countries even today depends on foreign investor who come to help the host country’s economy to grow as well as the international economy growth. The SEZs may include and not limited to; free shipping, free ports, and industrial parks. In these zones the goods can be received, repacked as well as rebranded for re-exportation without the intervention of the custom authority staff of the host countries (Araim, 1991). Early Economic Globalisation Most countries allowed the trans-border movement of goods and services since thw early 19th century. This is due to laid down agreements and issuance of documents that allows the residents of a particular country visit the neighbours without the intervention of the border authorities. The goods, services and technological information is seeping easily into the countries. This is a vital feature that have led to increased economic dependence of different national economies around the globe (Norton, 2004). This move is meant to lessen the international provoked trade regulations, taxes, tariffs and any other mechanism that is meant to hinder the international trade. The globalisation of the economy is similar to increasing the integration of economy between the several countries that invoke the global market. Good example is that of china where they embraced the globalisation that led to the Shanghai port ranked the busiest in the world (Araim, 1991). Factor that contributed in the development of an international economy in the 19th Century Industrial Revolution As stated by Goloboy (2008), this is the process of transition from agrarian economy to a more of industrial and manufacturing economy that is mechanized. This process has been known to originate from England in 18th century and then spread into many parts of the world. Industries produced manufactured foods and products which were very marketable in the competitive world market. The fact that raw materials were taken through a certain procedure in the industry making them more valuable made economy grow well. Industrial revolution also featured the use of new energy sources in the 19th century. These energy sources made manufacturing and production of goods easier. Invention of new kinds of machines was also in the forefront for instance the power loom which also increased production. Intraregional trade was therefore made a reality because the most industrialized countries such as Britain traded with the less industrial countries in terms of the raw materials and also finished goods. This was seen to contribute strongly to the international economy. Foreign exchange was seen to rise in the countries which got involved in this trade hence contributing generally to the improvement of global economy. Agriculture In the 19th century, agriculture was seen to develop rapidly. This is known as the act of planting crops and also rearing of domestic animals. There was large scale plantation of cash crops such as maize in Mexico and cocoa in West African countries. These cash crops were mainly traded in order to be used by the industrialized countries such as Britain. The process of trading led to the rapid improvement of the global economy. In the United States of America there was a rapid introduction of steamboats and construction of canals. Cotton was majorly planted in the Mississippi valley at Alabama. This was after large tracks of land were being set aside. Cotton trade in the USA contributed to the national income (Eicher, 1998). The growing of sugarcane was majorly in Louisiana in the states. This also contributed to the trade relations that grew between the USA and the Great Britain. Agriculture has also contributed to the employment of many people, hence improving their livelihoods by giving them a source of income. It also provided food to the population, hence making the manpower to be strong and reliable in order to continue improving the economy. The agriculture also served as a good saving to the farmers of while the surplus was used to expand the sector. Agriculture was therefore instrumental in developing international economy in the 19th century (Williams & Blackwell Reference Online (Online service), 2004). Population Growth. Population growth in the 19th century was on the rise. This was witnessed in continents such as Asia and also Africa. The rapid population growth was a major source of manpower for various industries and also the production of farm products. The manpower played an outstanding role in intraregional trade. The industries in the Great Britain, which dealt with manufacture of goods had enough labor hence increased production. Slave trade was also exercised by the Europeans. This was carried out especially in the parts of West African countries for example Ghana and the Ivory Coast (Herrmann, Christoph, & Terhechte, 2011). The rapid population growth made this possible. The slaves were majorly used in industries hence producing finished products that were then traded with the African continent and other continents in exchange of raw materials. This brought about an increase in foreign exchange, hence translating to the rapid development of the international economy. According to an economist by the name Thomas Malthus, population growth was a disadvantaging factor in economic development since it would increase past the food supply level. This was also seen to lead to the decline of the Gross Domestic Product (O'Brien, 2007). Natural Resources In the 19th century, most of the countries in the world had rich natural resources. These natural resources were not yet exploited as it has been witnessed in this 21st century. The natural resources include high quality of the soil, unexploited land area, minerals and natural oil and also good climate among others. Economic development is therefore promoted by the abundance of the natural resources. During the 19th century, the developed countries like Britain led the exploitation of the natural resources that the less developed countries were unable to make use of. Japan was having fewer natural resources, but at the end was able to make maximum use out of the limited natural resources (Stern, 2001). These exploitations in natural resources provided raw material for industries. The manpower which was used in the extraction of the raw materials such as the minerals was also paid hence increasing their income. This generally improved the people’s living standards in the 19th century. This in turn made it easier for international trade to be carried out amongst the European countries and the rest of the world. The aftermath therefore was rapid development in the international economy due to increased income in foreign exchange (Lederman, 2007). Education In the 19th century, education was witnessed in some parts of the world, especially the United States of America. There were common school reforms and expansion that was seen to coincide with the early industrialization. Most of those who went through schooling were able to acquire knowledge that was used in the industrialization especially in the West. Industrial revolution was therefore seen to take a centre stage, hence production of finished materials was made easier. The products included food supplies that would then serve the population of its country as well as trading of the surplus ones. The schooling in the United States and also Britain in the 19th century, largely contribute to the economic wellbeing (Kaufmann, 1997). Education also made it easier for people to speak common language, hence making it easier to trade together and getting to understand each other well. There was also renewed cooperation of people despite their nature, for example, strangers. Education also played a major role in various innovations and inventions hence contributing to the economic development. For example the inventions of highly efficient machinery made it easier for production of goods. This was paramount in meeting the targets of fast developing international economy in the 19th century (Srivastava, 2000). Conclusion For the swift growth of the international economy the discussed factors are vital and needs consideration. The success of a given country, helps maintain the growth of the economy however the small percentage it may be. The gradual growth of the international economy is traceable since 19th century. The protection of the infant industries helps in raising them into independent and self-sustained. This impacts the maturation of the international economy. There are also feature that led to the development of a countries economy which participate in the growth of economy around the globe. The world organisations should venture into ensuring that these factors are enhanced in all developing countries. There should also be technical assistance in the negotiations to help the developing industries to harness interests in bilateral and multilateral fields to ensure that the future generations are in agreement. The quality concerns should also be met and ensure that the marketing strategies of the exports in low-income countries are up to standard. References Araim, A. S. (1991). Intergovernmental commodity organizations and the new international economic order. New York: Praeger. Chung, J. W. (2006). The political economy of international trade: U.S. trade law, policy, and social cost. Lanham, Md: Lexington Books, a division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Eicher, C. K. (1998). International agricultural development. Baltimore [u.a.: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press. Goloboy, J. L. (2008). Industrial revolution: People and perspectives. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. Herrmann, Christoph, & Terhechte, Jorg Philipp. (2011). European Yearbook of International Economic Law 2012. Springer Verlag. Kaufmann, J. (1997). Beyond the beaten path: Selected writings. The Hague: Kluwer Law International. Lederman, D. (2007). Natural resources, neither curse nor destiny. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford Economics and Finance, an imprint of Stanford University Press. Norton, R. D. (2004). Agricultural development policy: Concepts and experiences. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. O'Brien, P. K. (2007). Atlas of world history. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Srivastava, G. (2000). Women's higher education in the 19th century. New Delhi: Concept Pub. Co. Williams, C., & Blackwell Reference Online (Online service). (2004). A companion to nineteenth-century Britain. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub. 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