This paper takes up the question of whether market concerns about global imbalances in general, and the US external deficit in particular, are well founded. It reviews four arguments bearing on how concerned we should be about the widening of the US current account deficit since the Asian...

The proliferation of preferential trade agreements in recent years has reenergized a long-standing debate over their benefits and costs. This paper argues that a balanced view is in order. The trade creating effects of free trade agreements (FTAs) are likely to fall off sharply with increasing...

Economic history since the industrial revolution has not been a story of gradual evolution. Rather it has been punctuated by disruptive changes that ushered in new episodes. The current episode is being ushered out; what will replace it? The sources of the disruption can be traced by the various...