THE TWO ERAS OF UPHEAVAL: THE GREAT DEPRESSION OF THE 1930S VERSUS THE GLOBAL CRISIS OF THE 21ST CENTURY

Abstract

Global economic crises are the main risk factors for the reliability of the stability of the world economy and its constituent states. In the context of the growing turbulence of the world economy, caused by financial, epidemiological and geopolitical shocks, there is an urgent need for a deep rethinking of the historical experience of anti-crisis management. The Great Depression of the 1930s and the global crises of the 21st century have common features and significant differences that allow us to formulate lessons for modern international macroeconomic coordination. The causes, mechanisms of spread, political responses and economic consequences of major global crises are analyzed and compared with an emphasis on the role of international economic relations. When writing the article, methods of comparative analysis, historical synthesis, institutional approach, as well as methods of analysis of macroeconomic indicators and political decisions were applied. Data from the IMF, World Bank, OECD, WTO, as well as national statistical bodies were used. The study found that although the Great Depression and the crises of the 21st century were of different nature (banking, consumer, structural), they were all accompanied by a breach of confidence, a trade downturn and a deficit of international coordination. In the 21st century, flexible stimulus tools, the institutional response of central banks, G20 anti-crisis packages and the adaptation of the global supply chain played a significant role. However, the strengthening of protectionism, financial fragmentation and political polarization create new threats. The results obtained have practical value, they allow to improve the understanding of effective forms of international macroeconomic coordination in conditions of multifactor crises. A unique example is the four-year period of the Ukrainian economy (2022-2025). During this period, support for Ukraine from European countries, the United States and other countries can be comparable to the mutual support of Great Britain, the United States and France in the period 1939-1945 in the conditions of the war economy. Reducing the delay in response to the emergence of a crisis and balancing macroeconomic levers are important structural parameters of effective policy. The conclusions can be used in the development of foreign economic policy strategies of Ukraine, as well as in the activities of international economic organizations.