The Meb Faber Show · Friday, July 31, 2026
Liaquat Ahamed explains that the pre-1873 economic boom was characterized by the first era of globalization, driven by massive capital flows from Britain and France. This capital funded infrastructure development worldwide, with railroads being a key component, leading to a significant expansion in world trade.
“Well, first of all, it was the first era of globalization. So, as you said, world trade expanded fivefold, uh, went up two and a half times as a percentage of GDP. So it was truly the first global boom.”
“And it was driven by massive capital flows coming out of Britain and France, which went into developing infrastructure around the world. And it was infrastructure including ports, but most importantly, was railroads.”
“And there was a railroad boom in the US, there was a railroad boom in Europe, there was even a railroad boom in places like Argentina.”