Significantly, a much higher proportion of pre-1914 capital export went to relatively poor countries than has been the case more recently. In 1913, 25 per cent of the world’s stock of foreign capital was invested in countries with per capita incomes of a fifth or less of US per capita GDP; in 1997 the proportion was just 5 per cent.24 It may be that British investors were attracted to foreign markets simply by the prospect of higher returns in capital-poor regions.25 It may be that they were encouraged by the spread of the gold standard, or by the increasing fiscal responsibility of foreign
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