Polanyi's 'Double Movement': The Belle Époques of British and U.S. Hegemony Compared

Presents a comparative analysis of the double movement of the belle époque and collapse of British hegemony with the double movement of the late 20th and early 21st century belle époque and current crisis of U.S. hegemony. Emphasis on the book 'The Great Transformation,' by Karl Polanyi; Liberal crusade for free markets in the 1830s and 1840s; Role of Great Britain as the central entrepôt of world commerce and finance.