Two crucial influences shaped post-war reconstruction. The first was the US's emergence as the dominant economic of the Soviet Union. It had made huge sacrifices to defeat Nazi Germany and transformed itself from a backwards agricultural country into world power during the very years when the capitalist world was trapped in the Great Depression.

Under the pressure from industrialists and urban dwellers, the British Government abolished the Corn Laws. The effects of it were
(i) Food could be imported into Britain more cheaply than it would be produced within the country.
(ii) British agriculture was unable to compete with imports. Vast Areas of land were left uncultivated and people started migrated to cities or other countries.
(iii) As food prices fell, consumption in Britain rose. Faster industrial growth in Britain also led to higher incomes and therefore more food import.
(iv)  Around the world in Eastern Europe, Russia, America and Australia land were cleared and food production expanded to meet the British demand.

(i) Trade Surplus-Britain had a Trade Surplus with Indian. Britain used this Surplus to balance its trade deficit with other countries.
(ii) Home Charges-Britain's trade Surplus in India also helped to pay the so called home charges that included private remittance home by British officials and traders, interest payments on India's external debt and pensions of British officials in India.
(iii) Major Supplier of cotton-India remained a major supplier of raw cotton to British which was required to feed the cotton textile industry of Britain.
(iv) Supplier if indenture workers-Many indenture workers from Bihar, U.P., central India migrated to other countries to work in mines and plantations.

(i) This reduces the shipping cost and lowered meat prices in Europe.
(ii) The poor in Europe could now consume a more varied diet.
(iii) To the earlier, monotony of Bread and Potatoes many, not all could add meat, butter or egg.
(iv) Better living conditions promoted social peace within the country and support for imperialism abroad.

(i) The international monetary system is the system liking national currencies and monetary system.
(ii) The Briton woods system was based on fixed exchange rates. In this system the national currencies were pegged to the dollar at a fixed exchange rate.
(iii) The Bretton woods system inaugurated an era of unprecedented growth of trade and incomes for the western industrial nations.

One important features of the vibrant US economy of the 1920s was mass production. A well-known pioneer of mass production was the car manufacturer Henry Ford. He adapted the assembly line production to his new car plant in Detroit.
The assembly line production forced workers to repeat a single task mechanically and continuously - such as fitting a particular part to the car - at a pace dictated by the conveyor belt. This was a way of increasing the output per worker by speeding up the pace of work.
Standing in front of conveyor belt no workers could afford to delay the motions, take a break, or even have a friendly word with a workmate. As a result, Henry Ford's cars came off the assembly line at three-minute intervals, a speed much faster than that achieved by previous methods. The T-model Ford was the world's first mass-produced car.
Mass production reduced the cost of good and this resulted in mass consumption.

The shikaripuri shroffs and Nattukottai Chettiars of India were amongst the many groups of bankers and traders who financed export agriculture in Central and Southeast Asia, using either their own funds or those borrowed from European banks.
They had a sophisticated system to transfer money over large distances, and even developed indigenous forms of corporate organisation.
India traders and moneylenders also followed European colonisers into Africa. The Hyderabadi Sindhi traders, however, ventured beyond European colonies and established flourishing emporia at busy ports worldwide. From the 1860s, they began selling local and imported curios to tourists whose numbers were beginning to swell, thanks to the development of safe and comfortable passengers vessels.

Stanley was a journalist and explorer sent by the New York Herald to find Livingston, a missionary and explorer who had been in Africa for several years. Like other European and American explorers of the time, Sir Stanley also went with arms, mobilised local hunters, warrior and labourers to help him, fought with local tribes, investigated African terrain, and mapped different region. These explorations helped the conquest of Africa.

Europe's poor began to eat better and live longer with the introduction of the humble potato. Ireland's poorest peasants became so dependent on potatoes that when disease destroyed the potato crop in the mid-1840s, hundreds of thousands died of starvation. These starvation deaths were called the 'Irish Potato Famine.'

The G-77 is a coalition of developing nations designed to promote its members collective, economic interest and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity for the United Nations.
Later on, more developing countries joined the group and now it consists of about 135 countries. They have demanded a New International Economic Order (NIEO) in which they have a real control over their natural resources.
By NIEO, they got more development assistance and fairer prices for raw materials, and better access to the markets in developed countries for their manufactured goods.
G-77 was seen as a reaction to the activities of the Bretton Woods twins because
(i) The Bretton Woods twins, IMF and World Bank were mainly setup to favour the developed nations.
As a result most developing countries did not benefit from the fast growth that the Western economics experienced in the 1950s and 1960s. So, they organised themselves as a group-the group of 77 of G-77 to demanda new economic order.
(ii) The developing nations organised themselves into G-77 so as to gain real control over their natural resources.
(iii) They also wanted a better opportunity for their manufactured goods in the markets of developed nations.

The three types of movements or flows in international economic exchange are
(i) Flow of Trade This refers to trade in goods like wheat, cotton etc.
Historically, fine cotton cloth was produced in India by weavers and exported to European countries. But when the industrial revolution started in Europe and the European countries imposed tariff barriers, the export of textiles dropped drastically. In fact, India started exporting raw cotton and importing mill-made cloth from England.
(ii) Flow of Labour This refers to migration of people in search of employment.
During the 19th century, a large number of Indian labourers migrated to Africa, the West Indies and other countries.
They migrated to work on plantations, in mines, in railway and road construction projects set-up by the Europeans. These Indians settled in the countries where they had gone after their contracts ended and now their descendants are found in these countries.
(iii) Flow of Capital This refers to movement of capital over long distances for short-term and long-term investments.
Groups of Indian financers, traders like the Shroffs, Chettiars, etc financed agriculture and plantations in various Asian and African countries. They use their own funds or those borrowed from European banks

(i) Since wages were low in China, they became attractive destinations for investment by foreign MNCs competing to capture world markets.(ii) The relocation of industry to low-wage countries stimulated world trade and capital flows.
(iii) In the last two decades the world's economic geography has been. transformed as countries such as India, China and Brazil have undergone rapid economic transformation.

Two examples of different types of global exchange were
(i) Before the 17th century, China exported silk and pottery to Europe in exchange for gold and silver from Europe. This trade was carried out using the traditional 'silk route'.
(ii) Many common food items like potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes, chillies and sweet potatoes were introduced into Europe from America, after it was discovered by Christopher Columbus at the end of the 15th century.