Against the Tide

Against the Tide PDF

Author: Douglas A. Irwin

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2020-05-05

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 0691213011

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About two hundred years ago, largely as a result of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, free trade achieved an intellectual status unrivaled by any other doctrine in the field of economics. What accounts for the success of free trade against then prevailing mercantilist doctrines? And how well has free trade withstood various theoretical attacks that have challenged it since Adam Smith's time? In this readable intellectual history, Douglas Irwin explains how the idea of free trade has endured against the tide of the abundant criticisms that have been leveled against it from the ancient world and Adam Smith's day to the present. An accessible, nontechnical look at one of the most important concepts in the field of economics, Against the Tide will allow the reader to put the ever new guises of protectionist thinking into the context of the past and discover why the idea of free trade has so successfully prevailed over time. Irwin traces the origins of the free trade doctrine from premercantilist times up to Adam Smith and the classical economists. In lucid and careful terms he shows how Smith's compelling arguments in favor of free trade overthrew mercantilist views that domestic industries should be protected from import competition. Once a presumption about the economic benefits of free trade was established, various objections to free trade arose in the form of major arguments for protectionism, such as those relating to the terms of trade, infant industries, increasing returns, wage distortions, income distribution, unemployment, and strategic trade policy. Discussing the contentious historical controversies surrounding each of these arguments, Irwin reveals the serious analytical and practical weaknesses of each, and in the process shows why free trade remains among the most durable and robust propositions that economics has to offer for the conduct of economic policy.

Politics and Economic Policy in the UK Since 1964

Politics and Economic Policy in the UK Since 1964 PDF

Author: Michael J. Stewart

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2017-01-31

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 1483136566

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Politics and Economic Policy in the UK since 1964: The Jekyll and Hyde Years examines the economic policies that have been pursued by successive governments in Britain since 1964 and how such policies have been influenced by two sets of factors: politics and Keynesian demand management. The two basic failures of British economic policy since 1964 are highlighted, namely, the failure to establish a workable long-term incomes policy and the failure to achieve a high and stable rate of industrial investment. This book is comprised of seven chapters and begins with a background on the British economy until 1964, with emphasis on the economic problems faced by the country, including rising prices. The four basic objectives of economic policy to which both Labor and Conservative parties subscribe—full employment, a reasonably rapid growth rate, stable prices, and a satisfactory balance of payments—are discussed. The next chapter focuses on the Labor Party's 1964 Election Manifesto and how the economy fared from October 1964 to March 1966. Subsequent chapters evaluate the economic policies of the Labour government during the period April 1966-June 1970, including devaluation and incomes policy; economic policies adopted by the Conservative government from June 1970 to February 1974; and the country's economic situation since February 1974. The final chapter considers four factors—structural, technical, managerial, and political—that were responsible for much of what went wrong with the British economy since 1964. This monograph will be of interest to economists, political scientists, politicians, and economic policymakers.

Portugal Since The Revolution

Portugal Since The Revolution PDF

Author: Jorge Braga De Macedo

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-06-10

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13: 1000307778

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This volume examines the economic and political circumstances in Portugal since the 1974 revolution. A succinct analysis of the central themes of Portuguese politics (drawing on public opinion surveys conducted in Portugal) is followed by a framework for analyzing the economic consequences of the coup. The authors then assess the influence of the I

Governing the Economy

Governing the Economy PDF

Author: Peter A. Hall

Publisher: New York : Oxford University Press

Published: 1986

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 9780195205237

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Analyzing the evolution of economic policy in postwar Britain, this book develops a striking new argument about the sources of Britain's economic problems. Through an insightful, comparative examination of policy-making in Britain and France, Hall presents a new approach to state-society relations that emphasizes the crucial role of institutional structures.

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