Long waves of economic growth in Asia and Western Europe, 1950-2020: are there any circularcumulative causation and contradiction aspects?

This paper discusses some comparative analysis between the pattern of economicperformances in Asia and Western Europe during 1950s-2020s through political economiesperspective. The Asian and Western European economic performances are investigatedthrough some stylized facts in the sense of economic factors. Three analyses are used to explainthe general pattern of these regions. First, this study examines the pattern of GDPgrowth per capita during the 1950s-2020s, focusing on several countries in this region. Second,the analysis captures the pattern of linkages of economic variables in this region relatedto the principle of Circular and Cumulative causation (CCC) and contradiction. Third, theanalysis employs a historical perspective underpinned by the results in the second analysis.This third analysis is crucial to appreciating Asia’s global economic performance and also theprocess of Western deterioration phenomenon through long wave, including the occurrencerecession and financial crises. The institutions of globalization and neoliberalism that put thepower of capital promoted a financial crisis several times during the decades of 1980s-2020.The financial crisis is depicted by contradictions in the structural linkages among economicfactors in Western Europe over the period. JEL Classification: B15; B52; P48.