The global economy is an interdependent network of global markets and production systems featuring the fast and continuous flow of goods, services, and capital facilitated through cross-border transactions. It is both connected and driven by the opening of international markets and the liberalization of investment flows, creating a common platform that has facilitated a more balanced exchange of incentives and competitive advantages between countries. This has resulted in an ever-growing inter-connectedness as well as an increasingly complex web of factors influencing global economic activity, making it particularly prone to instability and risk.

See also: economic growth, climate change, fossil fuel, political economy, economic system