Abstract:

A video instructional series on economics for college and high school classrooms and adult learners; 13 one-hour video programs and coordinated books. Created by an international team, this series offers a multinational perspective on how the global economy and market affect individuals, businesses, and industry. The series features 26 case studies, with follow-up analysis, from more than 20 countries, balancing widely held American views with opinions from around the globe and allowing comparison of the strategies used in international economics today.(textbook, case study reader and review guide, study guide and faculty manual also available) Individual Program Descriptions 1. Trade—An Introduction -- Why nations trade and what determines trade’s basis and direction. Case studies: IBM’s computer production in Japan; Australia’s mineral export boom and domestic car production. 2. Protectionism vs. Free Trade --Tariff and nontariff trade barriers and the beneficiaries of protectionism. Case studies: French agricultural subsidies and conflict in the Uruguay Round; voluntary export restraints on Japanese cars into the U.S. 3. Trade Policy -- Subsidies, regulatory policies, import-competing, and export-promotion. Case studies: Airbus; the Chilean wine industry. 4. Trade Liberalization and Regional Trade Blocs -- Multilateral trade liberalization and preferential trading arrangements. Case studies: the Canadian-U.S. Free Trade Agreement; the U.K.’s entry into the EC. 5. Labor and Capital Mobility -- The mobility of capital, labor, and technology, including what drives and inhibits labor migration. Case studies: guest workers in the Netherlands; Mexican immigration to the U.S. and maquiladoras. 6. Multinational Corporations -- How capital moves, transfer technology, and the surrounding controversies. Case studies: investment by Ericsson in Hungary; a comparison of Smith-Corona and Brother. 7. Fixed vs. Floating Exchange Rates -- The strengths and weaknesses of each type of rate, along with their role as shock absorbers. Case studies: Komatsu vs. Caterpillar; petrodollar recycling in the 1970s. 8. Managing Currencies and Policy Coordination -- What motivates governments to manage currencies and coordinate policies. Case studies: the Plaza and Louvre Accords; the cost to the U.K. of joining the European Monetary System. 9. Exchange Rates, Capital Flight, and Hyperinflation -- How international capital flows, inflation, and trade flows affect exchange rates. Case studies: Mexico and the money center banks; hyperinflation in Argentina. 10. Developing Countries -- How these nations have been helped or hurt by the rapid growth since WWII. Case studies: comparing South Korea and Sri Lanka; aid vs. trade in Tanzania. 11. Economies in Transition -- Transforming former Communist countries into market economies. Case studies: state industries vs. private entrepreneurs in Russia; the success of Poland’s “shock therapy.” 12. Environment -- Transnational pollution and international property rights. Case studies: the U.S.-Mexico agreement on dolphin-safe tuna fishing; trans-national pollution along the Rhine River. 13. The Evolving World Economy -- The importance of human capital and the shift away from manufacturing to services and knowledge-intensive industries. Case studies: the rise of East Asia, especially China; Microsoft and U.S. dominance of the software market.