Examined here is a recent and interesting contribution to the decline thesis, based on a comparative study of the Roman Empire and the modern West. Its argument is that in each instance, the periphery has come to dominate the core, the former supplanting the latter economically. In a conceptual framework shared with 1960s development theory, migration is regarded as negative in the case of ancient Rome but making a positive contribution to economic growth in the modern West. Downplayed, however, is the role of labour market competition and populism in the unfolding crisis of present-day capitalism.
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