Despite a lack of consensus among Koreans, Korean officials recognize that—sooner or later—Korea will need to be part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Jeffrey J. Schott and Cathleen Cimino conclude that Korea should seek to join the TPP as soon as possible if it can manage its...

The global economic crisis in 2008 produced pledges from countries around the world to avoid new barriers to trade and investment. These commitments were largely honored when it came to tariffs and quotas, but not when it came to nontraditional forms of protection, including behind-the-border,...

Horizontal drilling and fracking are transforming global energy production, consumption, and trade leading to a surge of domestic production in the United States. Free exports of liquefied natural gas, crude oil, and other energy products are an essential complement of US international economic...

Multinational corporations account for 80 percent of all transfers of goods and services across borders, either within their own affiliate transactions or through networks with independent providers. As a result, the term supply chains is rapidly becoming the new norm in discussing the spread of...

Most forecasts for emerging and developing economies reflect excessive optimism that is both statistically significant and economically relevant, according to a study of forecasts for horizons of up to 20 years in more than 100 countries. This Policy Brief argues that for rapidly growing...

The Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology gives its visitors much to ponder. Established at the site in Nagoya where in 1911 Sakichi Toyoda founded his automatic loom factory (the basis of the family fortune, which later funded his son Kiichiro’s development of automobile...

Relatively little controversy surrounds three of the four core labor standards - forced labor, discrimination, and child labor. But the right to associate and organize freely and to bargain collectively is more controversial. And the use of trade sanctions to enforce labor standards is most...

North Korea’s international transactions have grown since the 1990s famine period. Illicit transactions appear to account for a declining share of trade. Direct investment is rising, but the county remains significantly dependent on aid to finance imports. Interdependence with South Korea and...

This working paper assesses the progress made in improving China’s exchange rate policies over the past five years (that is, since 2002). I first discuss four indicators of progress on China’s external imbalance and its exchange rate policies—namely, the change in (and level of) China’s...

Scholarship on European integration has extensively debated the external character of the monetary union. The institutions of exchange rate policymaking bear substantially on the euro area’s role in international monetary conflict and cooperation. This working paper examines the institutional...