Free Trade Under Fire:
Third Edition
Douglas A. Irwin

Paper | 2009 | $22.95 / £15.95
330 pp. | 6 x 9 | 30 line illus. 12 tables.

e-Book | 2009 | $22.95 | ISBN: 978-1-4008-3095-4

Shopping Cart | Reviews | Table of Contents
Introduction [PDF]

Growing international trade has helped lift living standards around the world, and yet free trade is always under attack. Critics complain that trade forces painful economic adjustments, such as plant closings and layoffs of workers, and charge that the World Trade Organization serves the interests of corporations, undercuts domestic environmental regulations, and erodes America's sovereignty. Why has global trade become so controversial? Does free trade deserve its bad reputation?

In Free Trade under Fire, Douglas Irwin sweeps aside the misconceptions that litter the debate over trade and gives the reader a clear understanding of the issues involved. This third edition has been thoroughly updated to include the latest developments in world trade--including the practice of off-shoring services, the impact of trade on wages, and the implications of trade with China-based on the latest research.

Douglas A. Irwin is professor of economics at Dartmouth College and the author of Against the Tide: An Intellectual History of Free Trade (Princeton).

Reviews:

Praise for Princeton's previous editions: "[Irwin] sets out most of the anti-trade claims one by one . . . and then marshals the evidence to show why it just ain't so. . . . Compelling [and] cogent."--Wall Street Journal

Praise for Princeton's previous editions: "A wealth of reporting, both of trade-theory debates and of recent political battles in America over trade, is elegantly squeezed into the book. . . . If [Free Trade Under Fire does] not change trade sceptics' minds, it is hard to think what else would."--Economist

Praise for Princeton's previous editions: "[Irwin] successfully parries nearly all arguments leveled against free trade by its critics, and does so in an engaging style, which in itself makes for lively reading."--Gene Epstein, Barron's

Praise for Princeton's previous editions: "Vigorous and persuasive. . . . [Irwin] offers an especially informative chapter on antidumping duties, which have historically been supported in the name of ensuring 'fair trade.'"--Richard Cooper, Foreign Affairs

Table of Contents:

List of Figures ix
List of Tables xi
Preface xiii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: The United States in a New Global Economy? 8
Chapter 2: The Case for Free Trade: Old Theories, New Evidence 28
Chapter 3: Protectionism: Economic Costs, Political Benefits? 70
Chapter 4: Trade, Jobs, and Income Distribution 105
Chapter 5: Relief from Foreign Competition: Antidumping and the Escape Clause 146
Chapter 6: Developing Countries and Open Markets 176
Chapter 7: The World Trading System: The WTO, Trade Disputes, and Regional Agreements 219
Conclusion 270
References 279
Index 307

Another Princeton book by Douglas A. Irwin:

• Against the Tide: An Intellectual History of Free Trade.

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For customers in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Asia, and Australia
Paper: $22.95 ISBN13: 978-0-691-14315-6

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Paper: £15.95 ISBN13: 978-0-691-14315-6

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File created: 11/4/2009

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