Episode Guide

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. Updated 2003.

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. Updated 2003.

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. Economics 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. Updated 2003.