A Guide to Understanding International Trade and the Balance of Payments

The fundamentals of international trade and the balance of payments are well known. Unfortunately they are often sadly neglected by policy makers and not well understood by journalists who opine on such matters. As a result politicians advocate a variety of tax and trade measures that sound desirable but not only cannot be achieved but actually hurt the economy. This book is designed to lay out the fundamentals that must be present for policy to work as intended. The material in this book was tested over an 11 year period on more than 150 students most of whom entered the course with a minimum of training in economics. Their difficulties were noted and the material refined to overcome them. This book is intended for those who have a serious interest in policy dealing with international trade and finance. While the subject matter has not been made simple an impossibility it has been made clear.