Global Trade Policy: Questions and Answers

In Global Trade Policy, economist Pamela J. Smith explores the key questions raised about global trade and policy today --and the answers that emerge from economic research. During the past two decades, the character of global trade and policy has changed in unprecedented ways. Attention has turned from traditional trade policies --such as tariffs, quantitative restrictions, and export subsidies --to trade related policies including intellectual property rights, labor policies, environmental policies, and growth and development policies. The institutional arrangements for these policies continue to evolve with substantial international debate. Offering accessible coverage for students of economics, business, public policy, and applied economics, this book provides an economic framework for understanding the current policy debates in global trade. Readers are first given background knowledge of trade theory to help guide discussions of trade policy, including traditional theories of inter industry trade, as well as newer theories of intra industry and intra firm trade. They then examine the national and global effects of widely used policies designed to directly affect trade, the indirect impacts of newer trade related policies, and the institutional arrangements for these policies. The distinctive question based format provides an accessible structure for students to grasp the key issues in this field, and the inclusion of reading lists and applied exercises enable them to explore open ended and realistic questions of policy debate.