Sidelined but essential: the International Statistical Institute, the League of Nations and the statistical observation of the ‘world economy’ after the First World War

ABSTRACT Despite the ‘first wave of globalization’ in the five decades before the First World War, the notion of an actually existent, single ‘world economy’ spread only after this conflict. Recent literature has stressed that the establishment of an international system to statistically observe economic phenomena and processes was a mandatory necessity for this development and that the League of Nations was the main driving force behind it. This article widens the scope and questions the role the oldest transnational statistical organization, the International Statistical Institute (ISI), played in this process. It is argued that the ISI, after losing a fierce power struggle against the newly established League, proved to be of central relevance for the success of the latter’s statistical activities for technical and political reasons. The article aims to contribute to a better understanding of a crucial period in the ISI’s history. In addition, it is hoped that it inspires more systematic research into the relevance of non-state and semi-state actors for the manifold activities of the League and other inter-governmental organizations.