Widening imbalances in current account positions across some of the major OECD economic areas have raised concerns about related increases in protectionist sentiments. This paper reviews recent trends in market openness indicators and assesses whether barriers to international trade and...

This paper compares the degree of openness to trade of three developed countries markets-the European Union, Japan, the United States-with that of three middle-income countries, namely Brazil, India, and China. A theoretically consistent protection measure - the Mercantilistic Trade...