Chris Meissner on the History of Globalization
Macro Musings with David Beckworth
Release Date: 03/02/2026
Macro Musings with David Beckworth
Subscribe to the new ! Chris Meissner is a professor of economics at University of California at Davis and is the author of the recent book One from the Many: The Global Economy Since 1850. In Chris’s first appearance on the podcast he discusses the historical bend towards greater globalization, how we should really define the global economy, the impact of the Great Financial Crisis on globalization and populism, the scope of globalization from the 1820’s to today, the validity of the China Shock, the United States’ current move away from globalization, and much more. Check out...
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Chris Meissner is a professor of economics at University of California at Davis and is the author of the recent book One from the Many: The Global Economy Since 1850. In Chris’s first appearance on the podcast he discusses the historical bend towards greater globalization, how we should really define the global economy, the impact of the Great Financial Crisis on globalization and populism, the scope of globalization from the 1820’s to today, the validity of the China Shock, the United States’ current move away from globalization, and much more.
Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links.
Recorded on February 19th, 2026
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:50 - History Tends Toward Globalization
00:05:55 - What Is the Global Economy?
00:19:08 - Great Financial Crisis
00:22:15 - First Wave of Globalization: 1820–1914
00:29:42 - Interwar Period: 1918–1938
00:40:51 - Post-War Bretton Woods Arrangement
00:49:36 - The China Shock
00:55:40 - Detour from Globalization
00:59:44 - Outro