History

The period before the Industrial Revolution witnessed very gradual increases in the levels and distribution of income for the areas of the world for which we have statistical records. The advent of technological and social changes associated with the Industrial Revolution brought sharp changes in wages and the division of society along clear class lines between capitalists and workers.
This phenomenon was identified by many early critics of capitalism, particularly by Karl Marx. He and Friedrich Engels (1848), wrote, The modern laborer, instead of rising with the progress of industry, sinks deeper and deeper below the condition of his own class. He becomes a pauper, and pauperism develops more rapidly than population and wealth. However, their assertion did not sustain and the world saw that in Europe and America, there was definitely a steady, long-term improvement in the real wages as well as the health and longevity of the population.
Rebirth of Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution burgeoned after the end of WWII. The foundations were laid in 1944 at Bretton Woods, in New Hampshire. The aim was to re-create the international economy that had brought prosperity before WWI. International institutions were set up to manage the new international economy.
This also saw great strides made in European integration. From the modest beginnings of the European Coal and Steel Community (1951), Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxemburg set up the European Economic Community (ECC) in 1957 with the aim of ever closer union as spelled out in the Treaty of Rome. From a single currency to a single market, economic integration has been remarkable. So are the stirrings of a common defense policy and an unspoken common foreign policy the stabilization of Eastern Europe through the prospect of EU membership.
Industrial Revolution and the growth of Multinationals
Multinational companies have been stimulus for the Industrial Revolution. A hundred years ago, there were very few multinationals, apart from the United Fruit Company and some mining and railway firms. Companies served foreign markets by exporting, rather than by setting up factories around the world. But in 2000, the 800,000 foreign affiliates of the worlds more-than-60,000 Multinational Corporations racked up some 15.7 trillion in global sales  double the value of world trade. Multinational accounts for some fourth-fifths of US trade. Around two-fifths of US trade is between subsidiaries of individual companies.
The growth of multinationals has also been linked to a big change in manufacturing. Cars, computers, shoes and so on are no longer made in one place. Open up an American PC and you will probably see memory chips from Japan and Korea, a disk from a US company in Singapore and a motherboard from Taiwan. This has produced gains both for developed economies like US and Japan and emerging economics like Thailand, Malaysia, and Taiwan. One study found that the production, marketing, and selling of one particular American car involved nine different countries.
socioEconomic gains of industrial revolution
The economic and financial gains from the Industrial Revolution have been colossal. Americans transactions of share and bonds with foreigners have soared from 4 percent of US GDP in 1980 to 230 percent in 1999. Germans are up from 7 percent tog GDP in 1980 to 334 percent in 1998, Italians from 1 percent to 640 percent. Banks are lending more and more abroad too. Currency dealers trade around 1.2 trillion each day, up from around 10 billion a day in the early 1970s.
World trade is at record highs. In 2000 goods and services worth 7.8 trillion were traded internationally - 1,300 for every person on earth. Whereas the world economy is over six times bigger than in 1950. Transport and communication are faster and cheaper than ever. Foreign traveled has skyrocketed tourists made 700 million international trips in 2000, up from mere 25 million in 1950. People spent 101 billion minutes nattering on international phone calls in 2000.
Al in all, the Industrial Revolution brought forth power-driven machinery that increased production, factories that gathered and teams of workers into giant firms, railroads and steamships that linked together the far pints of the world, and iron and steel that made possible stronger machines and faster locomotives. Capital accumulation and new technologies became the dominant force affecting economic development.