Suchergebnisse

The second edition of this classic text on international economics has been substantially revised and updated to take account of the considerable activity in this field over the last two decades. Three new chapters discuss trade policy and the environment, stategic trade policy, and trade policy and the exchange rate; and the many arguments for protection are analysed in detail.

Abstract'Dutch Disease' refers to the adverse effects through real exchange rate appreciation that the mining boom can have on various export‐ and import‐competing industries. The distinction is made between the booming sector (mining), the lagging sector (exports not part of the booming sector and import‐competing goods and services) and the non‐tradeable sector. What should the government do to reduce this Dutch 'disease'? The principal options are: do nothing, piecemeal protectionism, moderate exchange rate effects by running a fiscal surplus, combined with lowering the interest rate, and possibly establishing a sovereign wealth fund. The costs of the latter measures may be considerable.

This article discusses the role of the exchange rate regime in the 1997 East Asian crisis. Most of the countries had, more or less, fixed but-adjustable exchange rate regimes before the crisis. The article outlines special problems of this regime when there is high capital mobility, including the loss of political credibility that results when governments cannot maintain fixed exchange rates to which they have committed. The article discusses how the crisis would have played out under alternative exchange rate regimes, namely floating rates & currency boards. There would still have been a boom followed by a crisis, although in the short run, the recessions might have been less deep. The article also discusses Hong Kong's currency board regime; the reasons the Indonesian crisis was especially severe; the reasons some Asian countries, notably India, avoided a crisis; & the role of capital controls, especially in Malaysia. [Copyright 2002 Sage Publications, Inc.]

RESUMO Este artigo apresenta os princípios econômicos gerais da política cambial e fornece uma visão geral dos quatro casos de países que foram incluídos nesta edição especial da revista: México, Brasil, Argentina e Venezuela. São discutidos três principais regimes monetários - o regime fixo, mas ajustável (FBAR), a taxa firmemente fixa e o regime de taxa flutuante. Ao mesmo tempo, o artigo distingue entre duas abordagens principais da política cambial: a abordagem da âncora nominal e a abordagem de metas reais. O autor identifica os custos e benefícios da implementação desses vários regimes cambiais através das diferentes fases da estabilização macroeconômica e do ajuste estrutural. Embora a dolarização tenha se tornado cada vez mais discutida como outra opção de política monetária na América Latina, o autor observa que essa tendência ainda é incipiente demais para ser abordada neste artigo.

AbstractThis article reviews changes in Australian protection policy between 1967 and 1995, particularly the political economy aspects. The story is quite complex, and until 1974 was unusual by international standards, with a sophisticated Australian tariff debate and the remarkable transparency role of the Industry Assistance Commission (IAC), and its predecessor, the Tariff Board. The role of Alf Rattigan, Chairman of the Tariff Board and later the IAC, is stressed. Liberalisation since 1988 has been drastic, so that most tariffs will be brought down to 5 per cent by the year 2000. All quotas were ended by 1993. This can be contrasted with very high protection levels in 1967 and quite high levels even in 1987. Substantial unilateral trade liberalisation normally requires exchange rate depreciation, and the floating of the Australian dollar made the tariff reductions possible. The motives for Australian trade liberalisation in the 1980s are compared with those for similar liberalisations in many developing countries.