The Collapse of Global Trade, Murky Protectionism, and the Crisis

The Collapse of Global Trade, Murky Protectionism, and the Crisis
Author: Richard E. Baldwin
Publisher:
Total Pages: 112
Release: 2011-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781907142239

The global financial crisis of 2008/9 is the Great Depression of the 21st century. For many though, the similarities stop at the Wall Street Crash as the current generation of policymakers have acted quickly to avoid the mistakes of the past. Yet the global crisis has made room for mistakes all of its own. While governments have apparently kept to their word on refraining from protectionist measures in the style of 1930s tariffs, there has been a disturbing rise in "murky protectionism." Seemingly benign, these crisis-linked policies are twisted to favour domestic firms, workers and investors. This book, first published as an eBook on VoxEU.org in March 2009, brings together leading trade policy practitioners and experts - including Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean and former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo. Initially its aim was to advise policymakers heading in to the G20 meeting in London, but since the threat of murky protectionism persists, so too do their warnings.

Commodity Terms of Trade

Commodity Terms of Trade
Author: International Monetary Fund
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2009-09-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1451873522

We compile a historical dataset covering nearly 40 years of booms and busts in the commodity terms of trade of over 150 countries. We discuss the characteristics of these events and their effects on macroeconomic performance and, in particular, compare the most recent commodity-price cycle with its historical precedents.

The Global Trade Slowdown

The Global Trade Slowdown
Author: Cristina Constantinescu
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 44
Release: 2015-01-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1498399134

This paper focuses on the sluggish growth of world trade relative to income growth in recent years. The analysis uses an empirical strategy based on an error correction model to assess whether the global trade slowdown is structural or cyclical. An estimate of the relationship between trade and income in the past four decades reveals that the long-term trade elasticity rose sharply in the 1990s, but declined significantly in the 2000s even before the global financial crisis. These results suggest that trade is growing slowly not only because of slow growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but also because of a structural change in the trade-GDP relationship in recent years. The available evidence suggests that the explanation may lie in the slowing pace of international vertical specialization rather than increasing protection or the changing composition of trade and GDP.

The Great Recession and Import Protection

The Great Recession and Import Protection
Author: Chad P. Bown
Publisher: Centre for Economic Policy Research
Total Pages: 469
Release: 2011
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781907142383

This volume provides empirical details of how the import protection landscape changed alongside the events of the 2008-9 economic crisis.

The Social Foundations of World Trade

The Social Foundations of World Trade
Author: Sungjoon Cho
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2015
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1107036615

Sungjoon Cho critiques the conventional contract model of the WTO and proposes an alternative notion of 'community'.

The Global Economic Crisis and East Asian Regionalism

The Global Economic Crisis and East Asian Regionalism
Author: Saori Katada
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 120
Release: 2013-09-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1135712441

Regional cooperation in East Asia on various issue areas, such as emergency liquidity mechanisms in finance, the exponential growth of free trade agreements and policy coordination on the environment and public health, developed rapidly after the Asian Financial Crisis. A decade later, the global financial crisis offered a new opportunity for the nascent regional cooperation mechanisms to acquire new depth and meaning - this time, however, in a very different context due to the unfaltering rise of China. How have inter-state cooperation mechanisms, which were devised originally to deal with the problems of the past crisis, fared in the recent global economic turbulence? Can regional integration effectively insulate East Asia from the vagaries of the international market? Should East Asian nations heed the call for regionalism or globalism? This volume not only offers one of the first assessments of how the global economic crisis has affected the prospects for regional integration in East Asia, but it also addresses a number of long-standing debates of interest to East Asian specialists, economists and policymakers: Are crises catalysts for revamping developmental models? Do they provide solid foundations for regional solidarity and integration? Can they help catapult countries into the global limelight? This book was originally published as a special issue of The Pacific Review.

Boosting European Competitiveness

Boosting European Competitiveness
Author: Marek Belka
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2016-10-28
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1785369326

In the global financial crisis, competitiveness gaps between Euro area countries caused additional strain. This book discusses the various dimensions of competitiveness, with a special focus on Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. With products becoming ever more technically sophisticated and global interconnectedness on a relentless rise, quality, customer orientation and participation in production networks are as important as relative costs and prices. For Europe to proceed with convergence and to resist global competitive pressures, policies to boost productivity and innovation are therefore vital.