PA 856: Trade, Competition, and Governance in a Global Economy
This site provides resources for students in PA 856
at the University of Wisconsin,
Madison for Spring 2018 Semester
![[image]](tbpix1.png)
Figure 1: US trade balance as share of GDP (blue), and US-China trade balance (not seasonally adjusted) as share of interpolated GDP (red); 4th quarter nominal GDP growth assumed to be 4% SAAR. NBER recession dates shaded gray. Source: BEA/Census, NBER, and author's calculations.
Syllabus |
Important Dates |
Downloadable Course Materials and Information Sources |
Robert M. LaFollette School of Public Affairs |
Department of
Economics
LECTURE: MW 11-12:15, SS 4308
Instructor
Professor Menzie Chinn
Office Hours: M 12:45-2:15, W 1:45-2:15
7418 Social Sciences
Tel: (608) 262-7397
email: mchinn@lafollette.wisc.edu
Home Page
PA856 Syllabus in PDF file. 
This course provides an introduction to international trade policy. Its purpose is to provide students with an understanding of international trade theory, rules, politics and institutions and the major policy issues facing the global trading system. The first part of the course presents a treatment of the theory of international trade. It explores the rationale for free trade, the distributional impact of trade, the impact of tariffs and quotas, and the challenges presented by deeper international economic integration.
The second part of the course deals with the World Trade Organization, and how U.S. trade policy is conducted. It explores negotiation mechanisms and principles and the rules relating to market access, dispute settlement, fair trade, safeguards and trade-related intellectual property, (TRIPs). The third part considers major issues facing the trading system. These include regional trading arrangements including TTP and TTIP, foreign investment and national security concerns, the impact of China, and health and safety concerns associated with trade.
The aim of this course is to provide an analytical background for those who plan to go into government service, international organizations and agencies, businesses involved in the global economy, nongovernmental organizations with international foci, and consulting firms analyzing international trade policy issues.
Only those who are comfortable with graphical – and to a lesser degree algebraic – analysis should enroll in this course. It requires some immersion in relevant economic theory, although some time is devoted to institutional descriptions.
The required textbooks, available at the UW Bookstore, are:
- Rob Feenstra and Alan Taylor, International Trade, 4th edition (Worth, 2017).
Additional assigned readings will be available on the Web (via links on this website). Required Readings
Midterm 1, 2/28 (Wed.)
Midterm 2, 4/4 (Wed.)
Term paper, 5/4 (Fri.)
Downloadable Course Materials
- Harr Harrison, "Comments on the Changing Landscape of International Trade" (2017)
- Mann Mann, "Comments on the Changing Landscape of International Trade" (2017)
- Schott Schott, "The Distributional Implications of U.S. Trade Liberalization with China" (2017)
- Cr M. Crowley, 2003, “An introduction to the WTO and GATT,” Economic Perspectives 2003Q4.
- CBO PTA CBO, 2003, “The pros and cons of pursuing free-trade agreements,” Economic and budget issue brief, July 31, 2003.
- CRS TPP1 CRS, The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): In Brief
- CRS TPP2 CRS, Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Countries: Comparative Trade and Economic Analysis
- PP Petri & Plummer, "The Trans-Pacific Partnershipand Asia-Pacific Integration: Policy Implications," PIIE (2012)
- CRS FDI1 CRS, Foreign Direct Investment in the United States: An Economic Analysis
- Ba Baldwin (ed.), Brexit Beckons: Thinking ahead by leading economists [Ungated version]
- Autor Autor, Dorn, Hanson, "The China Syndrome," AER (2013)
- CRS FDI2 CRS, U.S. Direct Investment Abroad: Trends and Current Issues
- FH Feenstra and Hanson, "Global Production Sharing and Rising Inequality: A Survey of Trade and Wages," June 2001, forthcoming in Kwan Choi and James Harrigan, eds., Handbook of International Trade, Basil Blackwell.
- CBO CBO, Agricultural Trade Liberalization (2006)
- CRS Labor Bolle, “Overview of Labor Enforcement Issues in Free Trade Agreements,” CRS Report (Feb. 2016).
Additional Readings
- Black, Diamond, Merrill, "One Tiny Widget’s Dizzying Journey Shows Just How Critical Nafta Has Become," Bloomberg (February 2, 2017).
- Villareal and Ferguson, "NAFTA Renegotiation and Modernization," CRS Report (February 27, 2018).
- Masters, "Foreign Investment and U.S. National Security," Council on Foreign Relations (March 2018).
- Jackson, "CFIUS," CRS Report (March 2018)
- UNCTAD, World Investment Report, 2017
- Petri, Plummer, Urata, Zhai, "Going It Alone in the Asia-Pacific: Regional Trade Agreements Without the United States," WP 17-10 (Peterson IIE: October 2017).
- Economic Report of the President, 2018
- Bolle, “Overview of Labor Enforcement Issues in Free Trade Agreements,” CRS Report (Feb. 2016).
- Ek, Fergusson, "Canada-U.S. Relations," CRS Report 96-397 (Jan. 2014)
- CFR Backgrounders: What Brexit Means
- Armstrong, Portes, "Commentary: The Economic Consequences of Leaving the EU," NIESR Review No. 236 (May 2016).
- HM Government, "Alternatives to Membership - Possible Models for the United Kingdom Outside the European Union," March 2016.
- Jackson, Akhtar, Mix, "The Economic Implications of Exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union," CRS Report R44559 (July 16, 2016).
- Villareal, Fergus, "The North American Free Trade Agreement," CRS Report R42946 (February 22, 2017).
- CBO, How Preferential Trade Agreements Affect the U.S. Economy (September 2016).
- Irace, Nelson, "International Trade and Finance: Overview and Issues for the 115th Congress,
" CRS Report 44717 (Dec. 21, 2016)
- Furman, Russ, and Shambaugh, "US Tariffs Are and Arbitrary and Regressive Tax," VoxEU (12 January 2017).
- Cembalest, "A mercifully brief note on destination based taxation," Eye on the Market (JP Morgan, 20 December 2016).
- Richard Baldwin, "The World Trade Organization and the Future of Multilateralism," Journal of Economic Perspectives 30(1) (2016)
- ASSESSING THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP, VOLUME 1: MARKET ACCESS AND SECTORAL ISSUES, PIIE Briefing 16-1
- Gagnon and Bergsten, "The New US Currency Policy," Realtime Economic Issues (April 29, 2016)
- Trade in the balance, Economist (4 February 2016)
- "Who’s afraid of cheap oil?" Economist (January 23, 2016)
- Petri, Plummer, "The Economic Effects of the Trans-Pacific Partnership: New Estimates," PIIE working paper 16-2 (January 2016)
- CRS, "The North American Free Trade Agreement," Report, April 16, 2015
- The Age of Global Value Chains, VoxEU eBook (July 2015)
- The Global Trade Slowdown, VoxEU eBook (June 2015)
- "Why everyone is so keen to agree new trade deals," Economist, Oct. 6, 2015 (interactive graphic)
- Kamata, "Regional Trade Agreements with Labor Clauses: Effects on Labor Standards and Trade" La Follette Working Paper 2014-002 (February 2014).
- R. Johnson, "Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) and Related Non-Tariff Barriers to Agricultural Trade," CRS Report, March 2014
- Mohammed Aly Sergie "NAFTA's Economic Impact," A CFR Backgrounder (2014)
- L. Iacovone, Analysis and Impact of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures," undated
- Fergusson, "World Trade Organization Negotiations: The Doha Development Agenda," CRS Report (Dec. 2011)
- Sanford, "Currency Manipulation: The IMF and WTO," CRS Reports (January 2011)
- CBO, "Policies That Distort World Agricultural Trade: Prevalence and Magnitude," CBO Paper (August 2005)
- Mankiw and Swagel, "The Politics and Economics of Offshore Outsourcing," paper presented at Carnegie-Rochester conference, November 18, 2005.
- CBO, "Effects of NAFTA on US-Mexican Trade and GDP," (2003)
- Edwin Vermulst, "Section 3.6: Anti-dumping," Dispute Settlement (UNCTAD: New York and Geneva, 2003).
- WTO webpage on Antidumping, Countervailing Duties, and Safeguards.
- WTO webpage on Regional Trade Agreements
- WTO webpage on TRIPS
- WTO webpage on GATS
- WTO page on TRIMs.
- UNCTAD page on Bilateral Investment Treaties
- WTO page on agriculture
News
News Sources
Trade Economists
Weblogs
Economics and Economic Policy Links
U.S. Government Agencies
International Organizations
Current and Historical Data
- World Bank Trade Data page
- International Trade Data page set up by Jon Haveman
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Dept. of Commerce Data on GDP components as well as trade and FDI flows
- Bureau of the Census, Dept. of Commerce Data on the characteristics
of the US population as well as of US firms.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Dept. of Labor Data on wages, prices (including imported goods), productivity in the US and abroad, and employment and unemployment rates.
- Economic Report of the President, various years. The back portion of this annual publication contains about 70 tables of government economic data.
- St. Louis Fed economic database Thousands of time series on economic activity, in an easily downloadable form.
- NBER Data Specialized economic databases, including trade related, created by
economists associated with the National Bureau of Economic Research.
- BEA detailed data on services Useful link for US data on offshore outsourcing.
- Penn World Tables Annual GDP and other data for over a hundred countries, expressed in international dollars, after adjusting for differing price levels.
PA856 Trade, Competition and Governance in the Global Economy/ UW Madison / mchinn@lafollette.wisc.edu / 30 April 2018