Almost exactly 100 years ago, John Maynard Keyes described the 19th century era of globalization as ‘unusual, unstable, complicated, unreliable and temporary’. Keynes’ warnings about the threat that economic conflict posed to a lasting peace seemed to come true after the great reversal of globalization in the 1930s. As we seem poised to enter another retreat from open markets, it is appropriate to reflect on what historians have revealed about the fragility of the international economic system and the elaborate, if often hidden, apparatus that supported the return to globalization in the late 20th century.

All are welcome to attend

The lecture will be followed by a drinks reception in the North School, Examination Schools