Vous voulez voir cette page en français ? Cliquez ici.

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Free Trade Under Fire
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

Free Trade Under Fire [Paperback]

Irwin (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover --   -- --
Paperback CDN $20.31   -- --
Paperback, Mar 10 2004 --   -- --
There is a newer edition of this item:
Free Trade Under Fire: Third Edition Free Trade Under Fire: Third Edition 4.0 out of 5 stars (4)
CDN$ 20.31
In Stock.

Product Details

Product Description

Review

In a clear and engaging style, this Dartmouth economist successfully parries virtually all the arguments leveled against free trade by its critics.

Book Description

The 1990s began with fears of a "great sucking sound" of jobs lost due to the North American Free Trade Agreement and ended with opponents of the World Trade Organization taking to the streets in the "Battle of Seattle". Why has global trade become so controversial? Does free trade deserve its bad reputation? In this book, Douglas Irwin sweeps aside the misconceptions that litter the debate over trade and aims to give the reader a clear understanding of the issues involved. Putting the findings of an extensive body of economic research at the disposal of the general public, Irwin examines the positions of the proponents and critics of free trade - and makes plain the stakes involved in their disagreement, particularly for the United States. He explains the economic benefits of trade, not just for corporations but for people and the environment. He illustrates how protectionist policies damage the economy and fail to save jobs. Examining US trade policy, he shows how "fair trade" measures are arbitrary, unfair, and often harmful. He then attempts to demystify the World Trade Organization and set the record straight about its controversial rulings on trade and the environment. Irwin does not hold up free trade as a panacea but demonstrates why it is our best alternative.
See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
International trade has become an integral part of the U.S. economy over the past few decades. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most helpful customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Full of ahistorical assertions and disingenuous arguments, Mar 4 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Free Trade Under Fire (Paperback)
In this book the author argues for the "economic benefits of trade, not just for corporations but for people and the environment. He illustrates how protectionist policies damage the economy and fail to save jobs. Examining U.S. trade policy, he shows how "fair trade" measures are arbitrary, unfair, and often harmful"

Yet this author makes slight of America's long history of protectionist policies when it served its interest. In fact the history of America's industrial development was protecting her rising industries. So now that Americas industries are strong and known world wide; its labor force is a problem because it wants decent wages and health benefits. What is the solution? Free trade! Or free trade in cheap labor and dealing with counties that have no labor unions, no regulations that get in the way of business and officials that are easy to bribe.
This book is for those who have no critical facilities what so ever.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


5.0 out of 5 stars The case for free trade, Oct 9 2003
By 
"luiedu" (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Free Trade Under Fire (Hardcover)
Irwin's book, together with Bhagwati's Free Trade today,
makes a strong case for free trade. The argument is clear and
the book is easy to read and full of evidence supporting
free trade. Among other topics, the author discusses
the harmful effects of protection on developing/
developed economies, trade and the environment
and the role of WTO. Irwin's book is non-technical
and more historical than Bhagwati's. The latter
is more theoretical, at least in some parts, but also
a great read. For arguments against free trade using
economic theory see "trade warriors" by Marc Busch or " global Trade and Conflicting National Interests"
by Ralph E. Gomory, William J. Baumol
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


5.0 out of 5 stars Necessity to arguing, July 25 2002
This review is from: Free Trade Under Fire (Hardcover)
Doesnt it always seem that your friends subscribe to the wrong views, and you to the right one? Well, at least for me it is. Whether your pals are from the anarchist wing or the Pat Buchanan camp, or even deviate just a little from your (correct) free trade stance, you should read this book. And even if you believe in the unholy stance of skepticism of free trade , you should read it too, for "The Economist" said that if this book doesnt convince anti-free traders, nothing will; so go ahead and test your faithfulness.

I am not an economist, and I hate reading economics text books filled with useless jargon. Before reading some great books, economics was as complicated as chemistry, physics or calculas to me. But after reading a few books, "Lexus and the Olive Tree", "Mystery of Capital" and "Peddling Prosperty", I realized that it isn't that complicated, its just the economists who create this aura of an esoteric subject.

This book is written in simple language, but when it does use phrases that regular people don't understand, he does something rare - he explains their meaning.

This is an excellent book, but only after reading The Lexus and the Olive Tree. Tom Friedman's book is the main weapon in my debating arsenal, and "Free Trade Under Fire" book gives me a large cache of ammunition, as do Peddling Prospery (or anything else by Paul Krugman like Pop Internationalism, another MUST read), and Henrando de Soto's masterpiece "The Mystery of Capital"(dont even look at his "Other Path", it is simplified and better argued in this "Mystery").

Highly Recommended

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
› Go to Amazon.com to see all 12 reviews  3.7 out of 5 stars 
 
 		 Most recent customer reviews


Only search this product's reviews


Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject






















i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?