The global financial crisis of 1997-98 and the widening US trade deficit have precipitated fresh inquiry into a set of perennial questions about global integration and the US economy. How has global integration affected US producers and workers, and overall growth and inflation? Is a chronic and widening deficit sustainable, or will the dollar crash, perhaps taking the economy with it? If the problem was one of "twin deficits," as many thought, why has the trade deficit continued to grow even as the budget deficit narrowed to zero? If US companies are so competitive, why does the trade deficit persist? Is the trade deficit a result of protectionism abroad? Will it lead to protectionism at home? What role do international capital markets have? Each chapter presents relevant data and a simple analytical framework as the basis for concise discussions of these major issues. The final section of the book provides an outlook for the deficit and suggests alternative policy courses for dealing with it. This book is designed for policymakers and others who are interested in the US role in the world economy. It is also suitable for courses in international economics, business, and international affairs.

Information technology (IT) was key to the superior overall macroeconomic performance of the United States in the 1990s-high productivity, high growth, low inflation, and low unemployment. But IT also played a role in increasing earnings dispersion in the labor market-greatly rewarding workers with high education and skills. This US performance did not happen in a global vacuum. Globalization of US IT firms promoted deeper integration of IT throughout the US economy, which in turn promoted more extensive globalization in other sectors of the US economy and labor market. How will the increasingly globalized IT industry affect US long-term growth, intermediate macro performance, and disparities in the US labor market? What policies are needed to ensure that the United States remains first in innovation, business transformation, and education and skills, which are prerequisites for US economic leadership in the 21st century? This book traces the globalization of the IT industry, its diffusion into the US economy, and the prospects and implications of more extensive technology-enabled globalization of products and services.

Electronic commerce is changing the way that businesses and consumers interact with each other; the products they create, buy, and sell; and the way that they communicate, learn, and become informed. How can policymakers position their countries and themselves to take advantage of this new environment? How should policymaking adjust to a more global, more networked, and more information-rich marketplace where relationships and jurisdictions between the governments, businesses, and citizens of different countries increasingly overlap? How can governments effectively harness rapidly changing technologies and partner with both domestic and foreign private sectors to reap the greatest benefits for their constituents?

This primer answers these questions using both general analysis and specific examples. It addresses in particular the needs of policymakers in emerging markets who must formulate and refine policies that affect e-commerce in areas ranging from telecommunications and finance to international trade and domestic distribution as well as taxation and privacy. Companies considering doing business in these economies also will find that the examples offer insights into the issues that policymakers face, the different policy approaches that they choose, and the market opportunities that result as more and more economies embrace global electronic commerce.