Jagdish Bhagwati, one of the world's leading economists, offers a fascinating overview of the perils and promise facing the world trading system. That system is now being subjected to powerful centrifugal forces. Concerns with unfair trade are rampant, managed trade is increasingly popular, and regionalism is spreading. The United States, the traditional bulwark of multilateralism, has recently resorted to aggressive, unilateral tactics in trade policy. To a consideration of these developments, Bhagwati brings a unique blend of economic theory, historical scholarship, and familiarity with the institutions of world trade. Bhagwati refutes facile but fashionable criticisms of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Warning of the dangers of flouting the GATT's provisions, he shows that its underlying conception of trading by rules will be undermined if we extend accusations of "unfair trade" practices to areas as diverse as retail distribution systems, infrastructure spending, saving rates, and workers' rights. He challenges the economic and cultural stereotypes of Japan that fuel the sentiments supporting managed trade and aggressive unilateralism. In addition, he provides novel suggestions for rebuilding the GATT and with it the world trading system itself--suggestions that should prove useful at the Uruguay Round and beyond. Originally published in 1991. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Jagdish Bhagwati, one of the world's leading economists, offers a fascinating overview of the perils and promise facing the world trading system. That system is now being subjected to powerful centrifugal forces. Concerns with unfair trade are rampant, managed trade is increasingly popular, and regionalism is spreading. The United States, the traditional bulwark of multilateralism, has recently resorted to aggressive, unilateral tactics in trade policy. To a consideration of these developments, Bhagwati brings a unique blend of economic theory, historical scholarship, and familiarity with the institutions of world trade. Bhagwati refutes facile but fashionable criticisms of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Warning of the dangers of flouting the GATT's provisions, he shows that its underlying conception of trading by rules will be undermined if we extend accusations of "unfair trade" practices to areas as diverse as retail distribution systems, infrastructure spending, saving rates, and workers' rights. He challenges the economic and cultural stereotypes of Japan that fuel the sentiments supporting managed trade and aggressive unilateralism. In addition, he provides novel suggestions for rebuilding the GATT and with it the world trading system itself--suggestions that should prove useful at the Uruguay Round and beyond.

Originally published in 1991.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

"Jagdish Bhagwati combines impressive theoretical skills with a rare talent for clear exposition. He has had a profound influence on trade policy thinking among scholars and practitioners. Once again he brings his formidable analytical gifts to bear in these lectures. They should be read by everybody who wants to understand the case for trade and why it sometimes seems so difficult to make that case."--Michael Moore, Director General, World Trade Organization

"Professor Bhagwati is our most powerful and persuasive advocate of free trade. In this book he does two important things: he punctures all the standard false arguments for protection, and he uses the modern theory of commercial policy to suggest how a balanced approach to trade and social policy might look. And all of this comes in a compact, lively, and readable package."--Robert M. Solow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1987 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences

"Trade liberalization in the second half of the twentieth century brought huge benefits, especially to those less-developed countries which seized the new opportunities. Now these gains are being threatened by 'Seattle-person, ' the offspring of an alliance between forces of ignorance and special interests. Jagdish Bhagwati's courageous stand against this threat merits our admiration. His rigorous yet lively restatement of the case for free trade should be required reading for all participants in the public debate on globalization."--Avinash K. Dixit, Princeton University

"Bhagwati is the prime warrior for free trade. In this splendid book, he encapsulates all major arguments in favor of free trade and debunks many arguments against it in a lucid andentertaining style. The arguments are up to date, addressing all key issues of the last decade."--Elhanan Helpman, Harvard University and Tel Aviv University

"Jagdish Bhagwati is easily the most creative international trade theorist of his generation, whose work has changed fundamentally the way we now think about free trade and protection. He is also our leader in the fight for freer trade: his witty, graceful, and incisive op-eds and reviews in the leading magazines and newspapers worldwide and his public debates deliver unceasingly the coup de grace to the myriad critics of free trade. "Free Trade Today," which brings under one rubric the deep insights from modern theory--much of it his own work--to refute these critics, is a tour de force."--Arvind Panagariya, University of Maryland and Chief Economist, Asian Development Bank

"With customary wit and insight, Jagdish Bhagwati demonstrates the relevance of the theory of commercial policy, in which he was the leading pioneer, to current trade policy debates. The analysis is sharp and pungent, and the writing a delight--a must read for anyone interested in trade policy!"--Douglas A. Irwin, Dartmouth College, author of "Free Trade Under Fire and Against the Tide: An Intellectual History of Free Trade"

This volume explores the claims of proponents of free-trade areas and analyzes two principal initiatives associated with recent US trade policy: NAFTA and APEC. The authors conclude that the US should reject preferential trading in favour of the more beneficial goal of non-preferential trading.

These two volumes contain seventy essays chosen largely for the originality of their contributions. The first volume contains several classic papers. Among them are the many contributions to the theory of distortions in the 1960s which laid the foundations of the postwar theory of commercial policy. Also included are Bhagwati's important papers of the 1970s and 1980s which have shaped a new revolution in the theory of trade and welfare: the political-economy-theoretic analysis of DUP (directly-unproductive profit-seeking) activities. Influential essays on the nonequivalence of tariffs and quotas, immiserizing growth, cost-benefit analysis in open economies, and other major areas of trade theory are covered. The second volume presents essays that have opened up new areas of analysis in the theory of international trade and in the associated fields of public finance and developmental economics. Bhagwati's seminal work on the novel question of the appropriate income tax jurisdiction in the presence of international factor mobility, his well-known analyses of the consequences of skilled migration, the problem of the optimal choice between international capital and labor mobility, are all included.

These two volumes contain seventy essays chosen largely for the originality of their contributions. The first volume contains several classic papers. Among them are the many contributions to the theory of distortions in the 1960s which laid the foundations of the postwar theory of commercial policy. Also included are Bhagwati's important papers of the 1970s and 1980s which have shaped a new revolution in the theory of trade and welfare: the political-economy-theoretic analysis of DUP (directly-unproductive profit-seeking) activities. Influential essays on the nonequivalence of tariffs and quotas, immiserizing growth, cost-benefit analysis in open economies, and other major areas of trade theory are covered. The second volume presents essays that have opened up new areas of analysis in the theory of international trade and in the associated fields of public finance and developmental economics. Bhagwati's seminal work on the novel question of the appropriate income tax jurisdiction in the presence of international factor mobility, his well-known analyses of the consequences of skilled migration, the problem of the optimal choice between international capital and labor mobility, are all included.

Professor Bhagwati has brought together in this volume his most important theoretical writings on international economics through 1969. A major contribution to the pure theory of international trade -- his Economic Journal survey of the subject -- is reprinted with an addendum which brings it up to date. In addition, there are papers on propositions relating to gains from trade, and papers on tariffs, quotas and subsides, which cover both 'positive' and welfare aspects of trade theory. Reprinted here are his well-known papers on immiserizing growth, including a recent generalization, and on the theory of optimal policy intervention under domestic distortions. Four important essays on growth and development round out the volume. The fifteen essays reprinted in this collection comprise all the most original contributions and surveys which have established Professor Bhagwati as a leading theorist of international trade. The wide range of topics covered makes the whole book invaluable to all students of international economics.

The greatest strength of this thoroughly revised and expanded edition of Lectures on International Trade is its rigorous algebraic and geometric treatment of the various models and results of trade theory. The authors, who now include Arvind Panagariya, offer both policy insights and empirical applications. They have added nine entirely new chapters as well as new sections to several existing chapters (e.g., a greatly expanded treatment of the growing theory of preferential trade agreements).