The economics of language studies the reciprocal influence between linguistic and economic processes. It has been an object of study for economists, albeit a relatively marginal one, since the 1960s. As the field has developed and branched out into the exploration of a broadening range of topics, a question that has emerged in recent years, against the backdrop of the set of processes commonly referred to as "globalization," is whether these patterns of reciprocal influence present particular features in the case of English.