Question:What would have happened to Europe in the past two and a half centuries if it hadn't plundered the global south? What would have happened if Europeans had paid for the labour of Africans instead of stealing it? What would have happened if they had purchased cotton, tea, spices and other commodities at a price that reflected the labour used to produce it?

Answer: Europe would be one of the poorer regions of the world

Thomas Piketty, the world renowned economist and author of Capital in the 21st Century has produced a new study of the economic dynamics of 19th and 20th Century imperialism. You can access it here

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