"'What everyone needs to know' is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press" -- title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [307]-338) and index.

Preface -- 1. Foreign Trade in World History -- What is the early history of global trade and growth? -- How did views on trade and policy change? -- How did the modern trading system start? -- What happened to trade and growth after the Second World War? -- What provision was made for preferential trading arrangements? -- What changed in the 1970s? -- What changed for the developing countries? -- What happened in the 1990s? -- What about the failure of the Doha Round? -- How are trade and economic growth linked? -- What structural changes and challenges does the global economy face today? -- 2. Trade Policy

Why are special policies needed for trade? -- Why aren't domestic laws enough? -- Why is a level playing field needed? -- Why are the issues multilateral? -- What about trade in services? -- How do domestic and trade policies interact? -- Is there consensus on reasons for protection? -- How do politics of trade differ from other economic issues? -- 3. How Much and What Does the US Trade? -- Why don't numbers tell the whole story? -- But what do US trade statistics show? -- The components of American foreign trade -- How does the US compare with other countries? -- What services are most heavily traded? -- 4. The Case for Free Trade

Why do economists support free trade? -- What is comparative advantage? -- What are the objections to comparative advantage? -- What are dynamic arguments for free trade? -- 5. What's Wrong with Protection? -- What is protection? -- What kinds of protection are there? -- What about measures other than tariffs and QRs? -- What are the effects of protection? -- How do effects of QRs differ from those of tariffs? -- Are there other real-​world difficulties with tariffs? -- What are US tariff rates? -- 6. Do Trade Deficits Matter? -- What determines a country's current account balance? -- What is a current account deficit?

How do deficits relate to a country's macroeconomy? -- What is the role of the exchange rate? -- What about bilateral balances? -- 7. Does Trade Hurt American Jobs? -- What are the determinants of aggregate employment? -- How does a tariff affect employment in the protected industry? -- What do tariffs do to employment and output in other industries? -- What do labor standards achieve? -- 8. What About Currency Manipulation? -- What is the exchange rate and what does it have to do with trade? -- What is currency manipulation? -- Why and when does the US Treasury designate a country a currency manipulator?

"In all countries, there are laws and regulations affecting private economic activity. They are necessary to enable private economic activity to thrive, as well as to provide for honesty in information), consumer protection, and much more. Laws and regulations, such as safety standards, quality grades, and health and food (phytosanitary) standards generally apply to much economic activity within a country. In very primitive societies when farming or hunting was almost all economic activity, such measures were much less necessary. But as exchanges and trading increased, the need to find ways to support transactions became essential in order to enable parties to agree on even such things as simple weights and measures. Until there was a commercial code (legal framework), most businesses were owned primarily by family members who could trust each other. The commercial codes covered such phenomena as penalties against breach of contract, standards and assurances as to the quality and ingredients of goods being contracted, and penalties for their infringement, and so on. Note that even a rudimentary contract would likely have needed an understanding as to weights and measures, definition of materials, and much more"--