Dilemmas Of International Trade

A work which puts post-Cold War trade issues into historical and theoretical perspective with the British Corn Laws, the Great Depression, the Bretton Woods system, and the origins of the European Union.

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Following the end of the Cold War, trade has become more significant as an arena for competitition - between nations, groups, and ethical and theoretical ideas. This book aims to put contemporary trade issues, such as NAFTA, United States-Japan controversies, the Uruguay Round of GATT, China's "most favoured nation" status, and the founding of the World Trade Organization, into historical and theoretical perspective with the British Corn Laws, the Great Depression, the Bretton Woods system, and the origins of the European Union. Economic theory, terms and concepts are explained and contextualized with those from international relations. Throughout the book, three central dilemmas are examined: the unequal distribution of income and wealth created by international trade, the trade-off among competing values that trade requires, and the difficult interrelationship between economic and foreign-policy goals within and among trading nations. Although internationally framed, each dilemma has ramifications at a variety of levels all the way down to the individual's role in the global economy - as a consumer, a citizen, and ultimately a moral agent.