the 20th century saw unparalleled economic growth, with global per capita GDP increasing almost five-fold. But this growth was not steady-the strongest expansion came during the second half of the century, a period of rapid trade expansion accompanied by trade and typically somewhat later, financial liberalization. Figure 1a breaks the century into four periods. In the inter-war era, the world turned its back on internationalism or globalization as we now call it and countries retreated into closed economies, protectionism and pervasive capital controls. This was a major factor in the devastation of this period, When per capita income growth fell to less than 1 percent during 1913-1950. For the rest of the century, even though population grew at an unprecedented pace, per capita income growth was over 2 percent, the fastest pace of all coming during the post-World war boom in the industrial countries