This paper questions the view that foreign direct investment (FDI) is producing an integrated world production and trading system. Although multinational firms have a greater choice of locations than in the past, their recent investments abroad have taken place within a regional, rather than...

This paper describes the history of the UK balance of payments since 1950, and contains an informal discussion of future prospects. It documents the huge shifts that have occurred in the composition of trade, in particular the rise of the City of London and knowledge-intensive services...

This paper criticizes the current enthusiasm for labour market policies as the main route to employment creation in OECD countries. Such policies are normally seen as a means of encouraging more employment on existing capital stock. This approach is one-sided and downplays the equally important...