Trade

Trade

Research

Do Subsidies Justify Retaliatory Protectionism?

Donald J. Boudreaux | Oct 07, 2011
In this journal article published by Economic Affairs, Don Boudreaux examines whether protectionism is justified if foreign governments are subsidizing export industries.

Taking Institutions Seriously

John Nye | Jun 21, 2011
This essay uses the Philippines as a case study to suggest what is wrong with leading development prescriptions.

The Divergence of Cultures

Jack Goldstone | Dec 14, 2010
The question of what separated Europe from the rest of the world in the 19th century remains a puzzle, and will remain so if we focus on material factors, or on broad ideological trends. We need to focus on particular elements of modernity unique to Europe, and search for their intellectual origins.

Trade, Taxes, and Terroir

Noel D. Johnson, John Nye, Raphael Franck | Jul 06, 2010
This paper uses data on the wine market in France at the turn of the twentieth century to argue that excise taxes collected on quantity can also be protectionist. High internal tax rates generated…

The Role of Entrepreneurship in Conflict Reduction in the Post-Genocide Rwandan Coffee Industry

Jutta Tobias, Karol Boudreaux | Jun 2009
Entrepreneurship is widely acknowledged as a catalyst for poverty reduction and economic development. This paper presents evidence from a field survey conducted during the summer of 2008 among a…

Social Distance and Self-Enforcing Exchange - Working Paper

Peter Leeson | Dec 2005
This working paper models social distance as endogenous to the choices of individuals. Peter Leeson shows that where government is absent, large numbers of socially heterogeneous agents can use…
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Research Summaries & Toolkits

Yes Africa Can

Karol Boudreaux | Apr 28, 2010
In this research summary published by the World Bank, Karol Boudreaux explores the economic success Rwanda has seen by liberalizing their coffee sector.

Expert Commentary

"Getting Tough" with China Is Bad Policy

By Jack Goldstone |
May 01, 2012

The U.S.-China relationship will be the most important bilateral relationship in world politics for some time to come. It is thus imperative that relations with China's new leaders start out in a way that offers something positive for both sides. "Getting tough" with China may sound like good politics, but it is bad policy.

Congress's Chance to Take on Corporate Welfare

By Veronique de Rugy |
Apr 13, 2012

Ex-Im subsidies are small in the grander scheme of corporate welfare, but it is one piece of the puzzle that Congress can do something about now. It should abolish the Ex-Im Bank.

What Export-Oriented America Means

By Tyler Cowen |
Apr 02, 2012

Piece by piece, bit by bit, we Americans are replicating the two-tiered developing economy model, albeit from a much higher base level of wealth and productivity.

Government shutdown would cost the global economy

By |
Apr 08, 2011

Charts

Growth in U.S. Export-Import Bank Authorizations

The Ex-Im Bank’s facade of boosting exports and creating jobs is not well supported by its own data. The actual effect of the bank’s activity is the creation of perverse incentives, moral hazards, and inefficient outcomes that has become a fund for corporate welfare. It is worth questioning whether the United States, with mounting debt problems and the possible expiration of the Ex-Im Bank’s reauthorization, needs yet another agency to subsidize companies with taxpayers picking up the tab.
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Experts

Donald J. Boudreaux

Donald J. Boudreaux is a professor of economics at George Mason University.

Tyler Cowen

Tyler Cowen is the general director at the Mercatus Center and the Holbert C. Harris Professor of Economics at George Mason University.

Antony Davies

Antony Davies is associate professor of economics at Duquesne University and Mercatus Affiliated Senior Scholar at George Mason University. His primary research interests include econometrics, public policy, and economic psychology.

Videos

Southern Comfort: Economic Development In Latin America - Part 1: Barriers to Trade

| October 16, 2007

Reality Check on the Global Food Crisis

Veronique de Rugy | February 09, 2011
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Podcasts

Continuing Legal Education: Legal Challenges in African Development and Their Impact on U.S. Policies to Promote Trade and Human Rights

Karol Boudreaux, Jeffrey Krilla, J.D. | September 21, 2010
Continuing Legal Education: Legal Challenges in African Development and Their Impact on U.S. Policies to Promote Trade and Human Rights
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Recent Events

Continuing Legal Education: Legal Challenges in African Development and Their Impact on U.S. Policies to Promote Trade and Human Rights

This course will examine the impact of property law and governance practices on human rights and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa, and key legal issues that should be considered when…
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Books

The Price of Everything: A Parable of Possibility and Prosperity

Russell Roberts | Jul 28, 2008
Stanford University student and Cuban American tennis prodigy Ramon Fernandez is outraged when a nearby mega-store hikes its prices the night of an earthquake. He crosses paths with provost and…
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Media Clippings

Made In The USA: An Export Boom

Tyler Cowen | Apr 21, 2012
Ty;er Cowen is quoted extensively in this NPR article on the U.S. export boom.

Why I Am Still Not Sorry I Left France

Veronique de Rugy | Mar 13, 2012
Veronique de Rugy explains why she's glad she left France twelve years ago.

Why Would Anyone be Against the Export-Import Bank?

Veronique de Rugy | Mar 08, 2012
Veronique de Rugy explains why the Export-Import Bank is a corporatist agency and funding it is bad policy.

A Devalued Renminbi Makes Wealthier Americans

Donald J. Boudreaux | Oct 13, 2011
The U.S. government should not respond to China's allegedly undervalued renminbi by raising taxes on Americans who buy imports. The lower the value of the renminbi the wealthier it makes Americans. Ultimately, the goal of trade is to import goods and services. Exports are a cost; they're the price paid for imports. By keeping the value of its currency low, Beijing enables Americans to stretch our dollars farther. This results in significant improvements in living standards.

Protectionism echoes Luddism

Donald J. Boudreaux | Mar 23, 2011
Don Boudreaux’s latest column in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review talks about the harms of protectionism.
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