ABSTRACT
Specialization in production along the lines of comparative advantage was a major feature of the nineteenth-century international economy, and it was brought about partly by the mobility of capital (and labour) from country to country. In particular, the outflows of men and money from Europe to the vast, fertile and mineral-rich continents overseas helped provide the increased supplies of foodstuffs and raw materials needed to feed Europe’s growing population and industry. Consequently the growth of trade and real income in the world economy that occurred at this time was determined in part by an international redistribution of capital and labour on a scale unique in history. Thus, during the century ending in 1913 some £9-10,000m. were invested abroad and some 45-46m. people moved overseas. This movement of capital and population from regions where they were relatively abundant to regions where they were relatively scarce was a necessary condition for the expansion of the international economy.
