Prof. Christopher Meissner joins me to discuss his recent book 'One from the Many: The Global Economy since 1850' which traces the relationship between globalization, international economic growth, development and finance since 1850. We begin with a discussion of the great flows of migrants and capital underpinned by technological development and the gold standard. Chris then summarises the key issues that drove the Great Depression and contrasts this with the multilateralism that followed World War 2. We finish in the present day post-Bretton woods world and consider contemporary global imbalances and future considerations for designing policy for globalization in the twenty first century.

In this episode, Professor Michael Bordo talks about his finding on the countries that "learned" to develop financial stability through history versus those that did not. Mike also walks us through the historical evolution of the Canadian and US banking systems, contrasting the relative stability of the former with the instability of the latter. We discuss whether system design in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries influenced the different outcomes of both countries during the Great Financial Crisis 2007-09. Finally, we consider the case of the Great Inflation experienced in the UK, where Mike discusses the "bad policy" choices and "bad luck" that plagued authorities until the 1990s.

Today, we meet Prof. Luis Bértola to discuss the economic history of Latin America since the 1820s. We cover Luis' book with José Antonio Ocampo ('The Economic Development of Latin America since Independence') tracing the development paths of three selected regions through different economic epochs- how did each zone perform, what were the driving forces and what policies emerged in response to internal/external challenges. We finish by discussing the disappointing growth that has plagued the region since trade liberalization in the 1980s and explore some deep rooted problems. We finish our chat by presenting a host of potential (but difficult) solutions that the region may need to undertake.