Global Economy

Abstract

While they are often used interchangeably, the idea of the global economy should be clearly distinguished from the idea of the international economy. The international economy refers to the sum of all the relations between the national economies of all the countries in the world, particularly binational and multinational exchanges, whereas the global economy refers to the sum of all the relations between economic agents whether they are state or private or of other mixed forms. In practice, this distinction boils down to the analytic choice between a state‐centrist analysis of economic relations and regulation, and a transnational analysis of economic actors, practices, and institutions. This distinctive concept of the global economy comes from globalization theorists and researchers who have identified globalizing corporations and their local affiliates, those who own and control them, and those in influential positions who serve their interests, as the dominant economic forces in the world today (Dicken, 2011; Sklair, 2001).