The world economy a century after Versailles and Genoa

A century after the Genoa Conference and 110 years after the outbreak of World War I, Europe has been shaken once again by the roar of cannons. The effects of the pandemic, of the war and of economic sanctions on Russia are accelerating a profound reorganization of world trade and the world economy, with the rise of two political-economic blocs around which production processes and trade flows will be reshaped. Although it seems premature with the horrors of a war still raging, it is useful to discuss the interwar situation as a lesson for today. We concentrate on Keynes’ approach during those years and the differences with mainstream analysis, focusing on two key issues: the gold standard and world trade, with the ensuing debate on economic self-sufficiency, to show how his way of analysing these issues can be useful for today’s situation