National Power and the Structure of Foreign Trade

This study examines the relationship between foreign trade and national power, from the Mercantilists to the present. It discusses the theoretical basis of using foreign trade as an instrument of national power policy and compares it to the practices followed by Germany in recent years. The book also discusses the historical background of the problem and proposes safeguards to prevent the use of foreign trade as an instrument of national power policies.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 194 pages
Publication date: 20 April 2018
Publisher: University of California Press

This study begins with a brief survey of economic thought on the relationship between foreign trade and national power, from the Mercantilists to the present day. Chapter II attempts a systematic theoretical approach to the subject. It first makes clear the fundamental basis of the possible use of foreign trade as an instrument of national power policy. Using well-known concepts of economic analysis, it proceeds to show under what conditions and by means of what policies this instrument is likely to attain its highest efficiency. The principles of power policy thus deduced theoretically are then compared with the actual practices followed by German trading methods in recent years. Toward the end of this chapter, the reader will be carried into a detailed discussion of certain problems of the theory of international trade, which are touched upon earlier in the chapter.

Chapter III is applied to the historical background of our problem. It gives a survey of the literature on economic aggression before and during World War I and brings out the importance of the Paris Economic Conference of the Allies in 1916 for the Versailles Treaty and postwar economic policies.

In Chapter IV, we review in the light of our theoretical and historical analyses certain safeguards or remedies which could be or have been proposed to prevent the use of foreign trade as an instrument of national power policies.

Certain questions raised in Part 1 can be answered in quantitative terms. Part 2 consists, therefore, of an exposition of various trends of international trade in recent years disclosed by statistical analysis.

In Chapter V, we calculate an index number expressing the extent to which the trade of the large trading nations is or has been directed by preference toward the smaller trad.

Weight: 314g
Dimension: 151 x 230 x 16 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520301337