Whole new world: Moderation, repression and beyond…

NEW WORLD

Just over 20 years ago, the world's borders began to open up.

Since the early 1990s we have seen the fall of the Berlin Wall, ex-communist countries transitioning to a market economy, an IT revolution, and – with China’s entry to the World Trade Organisation – another 1.2 billion workers joining the global economy. Increasingly, precisely where people lived mattered less and less, as the planet’s population was connected in a global supply chain. This was a period of considerable prosperity and stability in the world economy, characterised by robust global growth and general financial stability, and came to be known as the Great Moderation. A...