Status Updates From International Economics: Th...

"We will see that in open economies, saving and investment are not necessarily equal, as they are in a closed economy. This occurs because countries can save in the form of foreign wealth by exporting more than they import, and they can dissave—that is, reduce their foreign wealth—by exporting less than they import."

"For almost 70 years, international trade policies have been governed by an international agreement known as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Since 1994, trade rules have been enforced by an international organization, the World Trade Organization, that can tell countries, including the United States, that their policies violate prior agreements."

"One of the most influential explanations links trade patterns to an interaction between the relative supplies of national resources such as capital, labor, and land on one side and the relative use of these factors in the production of different goods on the other."

"International trade can adversely affect the owners of resources that are 'specific' to industries that compete with imports, that is, cannot find alternative employment in other industries...Trade can also alter the distribution of income between broad groups, such as workers and the owners of capital."

"Seven themes recur throughout the study of international economics: (1) the gains from trade, (2) the pattern of trade, (3) protectionism, (4) the balance of payments, (5) exchange rate determination, (6) international policy coordination, and (7) the international capital market."