...theories of international political economy and consider which approach is most apparent in the contemporary world. The following seeks to contrast liberal and mercantilist theories that have developed to describe and analyze the international political economy. Once the contrasts have been made conclusions as to which theory is the most apt or apparent in the contemporary world will be drawn. Both liberal and mercantilist theories have advantages and disadvantages when used to understand the international political economy in the present global system. Perhaps it would be more apt to describe the liberal theory as being neo-liberal as it has undergone a recent revival in popularity. It must be remembered that whether a state is most influenced by liberal or mercantilists theories that trade will never be completely free of duty and tariffs, as they are useful sources of revenue for governments. Governments also have to have relationships with other governments and non-state actors that may or may not share their worldview. Liberalism itself can be dated back to the English, American and French revolutions of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when the mercantilist economic system evolved into capitalism. Liberals were originally regarded as being politically centrist or left wing in outlook but favoring little or no state intervention in the economy. In its original form liberal economic theory strongly advocated a free market approach with states not using tariffs...
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...CHALLENGES FOR CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL TRADE GROWTH WITH MULTILATERALISM TRADE March 4, 2011 Abstract This essay contains the international trade between Canada to U.S. and Canada to China including the foreign exchange policy in each country and comparative advantages. It mostly focused on U.S and China between Canada’s relationships. The United States and China are the largest economic market in the world. Also these countries are Canada’s most favor relationship in the international market. In 2009, the international financial crisis became a huge issue of the world. Due to this financial crisis U.S got a lot of damage. It made also Canada’s economic downturn, because of strong reliant on U.S. Over view, Canada has to be a stronger country with more powers, in order to maintain a good relationship with many other countries to help each other and have more successful economic growth. GLOBAL ECONOMIV DOWNTURN FROM THE FINANCIAL CRISIS In 2009, there was a global economic downturn from the financial crisis. Because of this, many countries got a lot of money damages. This put the world economic in most hard situation. Most of the people in the world spent such a hard time in this area. The main sources of this happened from some countries which were largest markets in the world such as the United State and other developed countries. From this economic downturn many developed countries reduced imports from other countries. Therefore a lot of export countries...
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...The East Asia’ Regional Economic Integration Tutor: Griffith, Edward Student ID: 20647046 Student Name: Hong Xu (Eric) Word Count: 2369 Date of Submission: 18/1/2016 The East Asia’ Regional Economic Integration In the past twenty years, the East Asian economies realized the freedom of foreign trade and direct investment (FDI) because of the influence of GATT/WTO and APEC and as a result, it further promotes the economic growth of East Asia. The mutual economic dependence of each countries has increased a lot and therefore, close economic cooperation among Asian countries is necessary for healthy economic development. Many countries try to deepen their cooperation by establishing agreement and carrying out negotiation or discussion (Kawai 2004). Besides, the East Asian countries want to have their own institutions where they have vital voice in decision making after the financial crisis. As a consequence, the regional economic integration become an inevitable trend. The structure of this essay is organized as follows. The first part of this essay will discuss the driving forces of...
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...Introduction This essay will explore the nature of NAFTA and its effect on regional integration as well as state economies from several perspectives. In 1993, the United States, Canada and Mexico signed the North American Free Trade Agreement to achieve the higher level of regional integration. This NAFTA not only concerns the removal of trade barriers, but also aims to promote the movement of capital. Firstly, this essay will explain the evolution of NAFTA and its successful influence on economic integration. Furthermore, this chapter will provide the criticism on the influence of NAFTA. Secondly, this study will discuss the impact of NAFTA on regional integration, particularly economic integration. Then, this essay will propose the understandings on the effect of NAFTA on members’ economies and businesses from four perspectives, including trade, economic growth, employment and FDI. Main body The Evolution of NAFTA The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) issued in 1993 aims to removal trade barriers and liberalise economics and business among the United States, Canada and Mexico. Compared with similar FTA economic relationship, such as EU, NAFTA is described as the most implemented FTA (Orme, 1996). Like most FTAs, NAFTA not only effectively coordinates resource and improves competitiveness of countries and corporates, but also promotes the movement of products, services and investment, even financial integration. For instance, Krugman & Hanson (1993) stress that...
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...world economy as one economic unit and operates under one official currency, the euro. The EU's goal is to create a barrier-free trade zone and to enhance economic wealth by creating more efficiency within its marketplace. The current formalized incarnation of the European Union was created in 1993 with 12 initial members. Since then, many additional countries have since joined. The EU has become one of the largest producers in the world, in terms of GDP, and the euro has maintained a competitive value against the U.S. dollar. EU and non-EU members must agree to many legal requirements in order to trade with the EU member states. The European Union is a group of countries whose governments work together. It's a bit like a club. To join you have to agree to follow the rules and in return you get certain benefits. Each country has to pay money to be a member. They mostly do this through taxes. The EU uses the money to change the way people live and do business in Europe. Countries join because they think that they will benefit from the changes the EU makes EU is a unique economic and political partnership between 27 European countries that together cover much of the continent. The EU was created in the aftermath of the Second World War. The first steps were to foster economic cooperation: the idea being that countries who trade with one another become economically interdependent and so more likely to avoid conflict. The result was the European Economic Community (EEC), created...
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...‘Double Hegemony’? State and Class in American Foreign Economic Policymaking CHRISTOPH SCHERRER, UNIVERSITY OF KASSEL Published in: Amerikastudien 46 (2001, 4), 573-591. ABSTRACT The paper introduces research on transatlantic relations done by neo-Gramscian authors. This research is distinctive by focusing on class in international relations and by using the concept of hegemony in a relational sense. Hegemony is leadership through the active consent of other classes and groups. A central question of this neo-Gramscian research is whether an international class of capitalists has emerged. Some authors have answered in the positive. This paper, however, maintains that hegemony in the international realm is still exercised by the American state, though its foreign economic policies have been greatly influenced by internationally-oriented corporations and that these actors have increasingly found allies among economic elites in other countries. The paper explores the relationship between hegemony by the American state and by internationally-oriented capital groups against the backdrop of transatlantic relations in the post-war period and the current debate on labor rights in international trade agreements. 1. Introduction The United States government has been, without doubt, the decisive force in establishing and shaping the main multilateral institutions of the world market since the Second World War. It has consistently pursued the opening of other nations’ markets to gain...
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...1870 and 1913 has often been referred to as Mach-1, in reference to the speed of economic growth that it presented. This was a period of peace especially when its compared to what came soon after. Under the Hegemonic leadership of Great Britain, Trade and the movement of people with and within Europe grew at rates that were then unprecedented. All these gains crumbled just before the start of the Great War of 1914. For the next thirty years attempts were made to bring the world economy to its glory years without any success. At this point, nation states had retreated back to protectionism and a wave of national identity and anger of one state against another was sweeping across Europe. State debts, the just ended war, Fascism, Nazism and other various anti-International economic policies and philosophies made it difficult for cooperation amongst states. Cooperation and success was not realized until another undisputed economic power (United sates of America) rose to the occasion in the summer of 1944, to plan and re-arrange the post war economic order. If we were to follow the same naming style as the above mentioned, then this period would in turn be termed Mach-2. Once again the world united under a new Hegemonic leadership. Just as in the previous hegemon, Markets began to recover the good practices of the classical economic system were adopted and the lessons learnt in the thirty years of economic turmoil since the first world war were also in-cooperated. In this essay I will...
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...one-tenth of a point from 4 percent for almost a year--the lowest rate in 30 years.3 * The stellar record of growth has continued in the United States at the end of the decade as well: Between 1998 and 1999 alone, total employment increased by 2 million.4 To be sure, many more policymakers today acknowledge the benefits of free trade than when Congress passed the Tariff Act of 1930 (the Smoot-Hawley Act). The devastation wrought by these protectionist tariffs led successive U.S. administrations to support free trade after World War II. Their grand vision of a world comprised of nations at peace who traded freely among themselves for the prosperity of all has animated U.S. foreign policy and invigorated efforts to facilitate the opening of markets in every region. A growing number of countries continue to share the benefits of America's emphasis on trade. As noted in a recent report by the International Financial Institution Advisory Commission chaired by Allan H. Meltzer, a former member of the President's Council of Economic Advisers and Professor of Political Economy at Carnegie Mellon University: The Congress, successive administrations, and the American public can be proud of these achievements. The United States has been the leader in maintaining peace and stability, promoting democracy and the rule of law, reducing trade barriers, and establishing a transnational financial system. Americans and their allies have willingly provided the manpower and money to make...
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...Protectionist policy has been deep rooted in the history of the United States of America since 1789 when Alexander Hamilton leveled an “average taxation level of about 8.5 percent on imported goods.” (Merry 2016) The theory and practice of protecting domestic products, industries, and labor from foreign competition by taxing imports is not novel. However, as a capitalistic society there is great controversy about the effectiveness and externalities associated with this theory. With the political realm igniting a new flame behind implication of protectionist policy the hot button debate is now center stage again. On the first day of the presidency of Donald J. Trump, he removed the United States from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). From...
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... 6. E 7. C 8. B 9. E 10. E Bretton Woods System: international financial system devised shortly before the end of WWII that created the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund Collective security: The idea that an attack on one country is an attack on all the countries Containment: U.S policy of opposing Soviet expansion and communist revolutions around the world with military forces, economic assistance, and political influence Cuban Missile Crisis: the 1962 confrontation over the deployment of ballistic missiles in Cuba that nearly escalated into nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union Defense policy: area of policy making that focuses on the strategies that a country uses to protect itself from its enemies Democratic enlargement: policy implemented during the Clinton administration in which the United States would actively promote the expansion of democracy and free markets throughout the world Department of Defense: chief executive branch department responsible for formulation and implementation of U.S defense and military policy Department of Homeland Security: cabinet department created after the 9/11 terrorist attacks to coordinate domestic security efforts Department of state: chief executive branch department responsible for formulation and implementation of U.S foreign policy Détente: the improvement in relations between the United States and the Soviet Union that occurred during the 1970s European Union:...
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...What is the problem of collective action in International Trade and what is the way to solve it in Global Political Economy? The problem of collective action in international trade is a problem of “prisoners dilemma” or “free riding”. There are also two different points of view that become applicable while trying to understand this problem – a liberal view and a realist view. The liberal view believes that economics is the most important factor when it comes to international trade and if countries take collective action it will be for economic reasons. On the other hand the realist view believes that economics does not drive collective action in trade but politics does. Collective action in the context of international trade can be defined as free trade where countries do not put barriers for flow of goods and services and they work together to remove these barriers to ensure greater efficiencies. This lack of barriers is not the normal course of actions as pointed out by realists who believe that all nations act in their selfish interest and unless they are an export oriented economy with greater export than import, they will have very little incentive to remove barriers. But, it is believed by realists that if multiple countries come together the incentive to remove barriers is higher. There is always a conflict going on for national states. They want to promote free trade as everyone agrees that free trade will benefit them but they do worry about their national sovereignty...
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...refers to the openness and the free exchange of goods, services, resources, technologies, capital, and ideas around the world. Globalization is important because it increases efficiency; it is inevitable because international competition requires it. The anti-globalization movement blames globalization for increased world poverty and income inequalities, child labor, environmental pollution and many other problems. 2. Nations usually impose restrictions on the free international flow of goods, services and factors. Differences in language, customs and laws also hamper these international flows. In addition, international flows of goods, services and resources may involve receipts and payments in different currencies, which may change in value in relation to one another through time. International relations are to be contrasted with the interregional relations, which face no such restrictions as tariffs and are conducted in terms of the same currency, usually in the same language, and under basically the same set of customs and laws. 3. A rough measure of the degree of economic interdependence of a nation with the rest of the world is given by the ratio or percentage of its exports to its gross domestic product (GDP). For small, developed nations, such as the Netherlands and Belgium, the ratio can reach as high as 60 to 90. For large nations, such as Germany, England, France and Italy, the ratio ranges from 25 to 35. For the United States it is between 12 and 17 and growing...
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...bond of trade. Designated as trade blocs, these bonds are a type of intergovernmental agreement, usually associated with geographically aligned intergovernmental confederations, “where regional barriers to trade, (tariffs, and non-tariff barriers) are reduced or eliminated among the participating states” (Boundless, n.d.). As such trade blocs enable politico-economic ventures to flourish in the benefaction of its member nations. Albeit, trade blocs also represent diverse forms of economic integration, markedly, the preferential trade area, free trade area, custom union, common market, economic union and complete political integration (“What are trading blocs?”, n.d.). Customarily, the preferential trade area denotes the lowest level of commitment to reducing tariff barriers; typically member nations reduce trade barriers sans eliminating any amoung themselves (Finance Train, 2012). Whereas, the free trade area exists under the terms whereby trade barriers are removed on all member country imports, whilst independent tariff policies for non-member imports are retained (Finance Train, 2012). Comparatively, within the custom union, trade barriers are not only removed on all imports from member states, but a set of common policies are authorized in dealing with imports from non-member countries (Finance Train, 2012). More so, in a common market, member participants eradicate internal trade barriers, endorse mutual policies concerning external non-members and facilitate the free movement...
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...enterprises as well as other airlines (Qantas, 2013). It employs 33,000 people with 93 per cent of these employees being based in Australia (Qantas, 2013). Recently, Qantas has undergone changes that have threatened and seen Australians question if Qantas will remain an Australian brand. Reports have demonstrated 1000 jobs being cut due to restructuring of international arms as well as the decision to move Australian jobs offshore. Qantas has implemented plans to strengthen international ties particularly in Asia by funding start up airlines internationally. The global market is continuously evolving and as Bernard et al. stated ‘firms that are engaged in international trade are larger and more productive than the ones that serve only domestic markets’ (2007). However, the Federal transport Minister Anthony Albanese has stressed that “it is very important that Qantas reassure the Australian public that it regards itself very much as the Australian icon” (ABCnews, 2011). Qantas is an Australian company that has increased their operations in the global world. Therefore, macro-environmental factors such as political, economic and environmental factors impact Qantas’ product, price, place and promotional strategies....
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...Economic Integration The concept of “Economic Integration” has been growing in significance for the past 50 years and was established by economists who investigated the early attempts of European countries to combine separate economies into larger economic regions.18 More specifically, economic integration—also called “regional integration”—refers to the discriminate reduction or elimination of trade barriers among participating nations. This also implies the establishment of some form of cooperation and coordination among participants, which will depend on the degree of economic integration that ranges from free-trade areas to an economic and monetary union. Integration among countries in a geographical region to reduce, and ultimately remove, tariff and non-tariff barriers to the free flow of goods, services, and factors of production among each other. For examples: EU (European Union), NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) Level of economic integration: The levels of economic integration divided into five different levels and they are shown in figure 1.0. The first one is the Free Trade Area, Custom Union, Economic Union, Monetary Union and then the political union. These five levels are inter- linked with each other; first we have to have the come up with the identification of the free trade area among the participant. Than to ensure the exchange of the goods among the participant a custom union will be required. This custom...
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