The rapid emergence of East Asia as an important geopolitical-economic entity has been one of the most visible and striking changes in the international economy in recent years. With that emergence has come an increased need for understanding the problems of interdependence. As a step toward meeting this need, the National Bureau of Economic Research joined with the Korea Development Institute to sponsor this volume, which focuses on the complexities of tax reform in a global economy.
Experts from Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, Japan, and Thailand, as well as the United States, Canada,...

Exploring the political and economic determinants of trade protection, this study provides a wealth of information on key American industries and documents the process of seeking and conferring protection.
Eight analytical histories of the automobile, steel, semiconductor, lumber, wheat, and textile and apparel industries demonstrate that trade barriers rarely have unequivocal benefits and may be counterproductive. They show that criteria for awarding protection do not take into account the interests of consumers or other industries and that political influence and an organized lobby are...

This clear, concise summary of the in-depth analyses presented in "The Political Economy of American Trade Policy" examines the level, form, and evolution of American trade protection.
In case studies of trade barriers imposed during the 1980s to help the steel, semiconductor, automobile, lumber, wheat, and textile and apparel industries, the contributors trace the evolution of efforts to obtain protection, protectionist measures, and their results. A chapter assessing the common themes that emerge from the studies concludes that the focus of current trade law is exclusively on the...

This book examines how Japan should cope with fiscal challenges, as demands on the budget from an ageing society have necessitated the reigning in of public debt and the revamp of the pension and healthcare systems. It combines insights from academic research with the views of policymakers to distil key issues that need to inform public debate.

This volume is intended to provide a survey of thought about exchange-rate determination as it emerged in the decade of the 1970s. This survey differs from many, however, in that the field itself is in a state of rapid change. Understanding the changes and the reasons for them is therefore essential if the reader is to have a basis for understanding future advances in knowledge and the further evolution of the system. The survey is also intended to reach non-specialist professional economists whose balance-of-payments theory was learned before the 1970s, as well as to provide graduate...

As developing countries become increasingly important in the international economy, there is an urgent need to reassess U.S. policies. This book examines the various U.S. international economic policies that affect developing countries and shows that American policies regarding trade, aid, debt, and the multilateral institutions are undertaken largely without coordination and often conflict with each other. Tracing the evolution of foreign aid, Anna Krueger explains that just after World War II American economic policies toward developing countries consisted almost entirely of foreign aid....

This work is part of the Integrating National Economies series.

Uncovering the distinction between the rhetoric and the reality of US trade policy, this study examines growing US protectionism and Washington's aggressive use of bilateral trade tactics. In order to avoid a world trade war, renewed commitment to open multilateral trade is needed.