Global Trade: An Introduction to the History, Theory and Political Issues
The long history of trade is one of intercultural contact, competing theoretical paradigms, and controversy over the place of trade in national economic development strategies. Any theory of trade is necessarily a narrative about competition and the ways that humans have sought to exploit weaknesses in rivals, ameliorate the advantages of competitors and use the rewards gained by trade to realize the ambitions of elites. However, the dominant intellectual tradition that goes back as far as Adam Smith and David Ricardo holds that at least in theory, trade can benefit all parties involved if it is organized on a transparent and equitable basis. Controversies over what constitutes advantage and disadvantage in the governance of trade highlight the challenges that beset the global trading system today. The WTO remains mired in age old problems that arise when the strong bargain with the weak, and new problems that beset a governance system operating within a complex and incomplete system of international law.
Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the Twentieth Century
International trade at unprecedented levels, millions of people migrating yearly in search of jobs, the world's economies more open to one another than ever before...Such was the global economy in 1900. Then as now, many people considered globalisation to be inevitable and irreversible. Yet, the entire edifice collapsed in a few months in 1914. Globalisation is a choice, not a fact. It is a result of policy decisions and the politics that shape them. In this insightful history of the economic and political events that have shaped our time, Jeffry A. Frieden explores the golden age of globalisation during the early years of the twentieth century, its swift collapse in the crises of 1914-45, the divisions of the Cold War world, and the turn again towards global integration at the end of the century. Full of character and event, as entertaining as it is enlightening, "Global Capitalism" deepens our understanding of the century just past and sheds light on our current situation.
The Use of Qualitative Information in Macro-Economic Policy Analysis
The majority of macro-economic policy models takes for granted that conflicts among objectives can be assessed by means of a tradeoff analysis. Such tradeoffs imply that sacrifices and benefits of various impacts of decisions can be measured on a cardinal scale, so that a conventional macro-economic utility or welfare analysis can be applied.