U.S. Trade Policy and Global Growth: New Directions in the International Economy (Economic Polity Instituteseries)

This collection of essays offers critical perspectives on current issues in the international economy. Divided into four parts, U.S. Trade Policy and Global Growth discusses managed trade and international interdependence, the effect of trade on domestic wages and employment, the costs and benefits of trade protection, and likely effects of NAFTA. The collection also addresses the U.S. trade deficit and presents a Keynesian proposal for international monetary reform. Part IV focuses on issues facing developing countries in the areas of trade, industrial, and financial policy. Rejecting the dogma that pure free-market policies should be accepted as articles of religious faith, in either international trade or domestic policy, the contributors search for trade and macro policies that can achieve balanced growth with high employment and an equitable distribution of income in both the United States and the rest of the world. Studies of the Employment and Wage Effects of NAFTA -- Recent Trends in U.S.-Mexican Trade and Capital Flows -- Low-Wage Competition and Corporate Restructuring -- Conclusions and Policy Options -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Part III: Marciecomic Perspectives -- Chapter Six: The Trade Deficit and U.S. Competitiveness -- Introduction -- Implications of the Equilibrium Method -- Two-Way Causality -- Exchange Rate Adjustment and Living Standards -- The Fiscal and Trade Deficits: Twins or Cousins? -- Evidence for a Secular Decline in Competitiveness -- Income Adjustment and Absolute Advantages Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- List of Tables and Figures -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Part I: Conceptual Frameworks -- Chapter One: Managed Trade and Economic Sovereignty -- Introduction -- History -- Hegemony and Ideology -- The National Interest -- The New View -- Toward a Mixed System -- Some Common Principles -- Pluralism and the American National Interest -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Chapter Two: Global Interdependence and National Prosperity -- Introduction -- International Interdependence -- Comparative Advantage Alternative Interpretations of Declining Competitiveness -- Structural Problems with Particular Countries -- Conclusions -- Appendix -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Chapter Seven: Reforming the International Payments System -- Introduction -- The Necessary Conditions for an Expansionary International Payments System -- A New International Payments System -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Part IV: Trade Policies in the Developing Countries -- Chapter Eight: Income Distribution, Trade, and Growth -- Introduction -- Fiscal and Trade Positions -- A Three-Gap Model Chapter Four: The Costs of Trade Protection Reconsidered: U.S. Steel, Textiles, and Apparel -- Introduction -- The Steel Industry: Labor Displacement and Inefficient Quotas -- The Textile Industry: Estimating the Benefits of Induced Innovation -- The Apparel Industry: The Consequences of Marketing Concentration -- Conclusions: Consequences for Trade Policy -- Appendix: Measuring the Welfare Costs of Protection -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Chapter Five: The Political Economy of the North American Free Trade Agreement -- Introduction -- The NAFTA Debate The Benefits and Harms of Openness -- The Global Division of Markets -- The ""Competitive Price of Labor""--Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Part II: Issues in U.S. Trade Policy -- Chapter Three: International Trade and the Performance of U.S. Labor Markets -- Introduction -- Trade, Wages, and Inequality: Some Descriptive Statistics -- Trade Theory and Possible Causal Channels -- Empirical Studies of Trade and Labor Market Performance -- Challenges to the Trade and Wages Connection -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography This text critically examines the conventional wisdom of economists on trade issues in the 1990s. It covers recent perspectives: on international economy; current issues in American trade policy; global trade imbalances and international monetary reform; and development policy.