On the pace of globalization slowing.

• Author: Rees, Matthew
• Position: Miscellaneous

"As recently as the first half of 2008, boosted by rising commodity prices and a falling dollar, trade was growing at an annualized 20 percent in dollar terms. In the second half of 2008, as commodities sagged and the dollar rose, growth slowed fast; by September, says the International Monetary Fund, it was in reverse. In December, says the International Air Transport Association, air-cargo traffic (responsible for over a third of the value of the world's traded goods) was down 23 percent on December 2007--almost double the fall in the year up to the end of September 2001, a result affected by the 9/11...