What Is International Economics?

Question: What Is International Economics?

Answer: What exactly international economics is and what it covers tend to depend on the views of the person using the definition. Roughly speaking, it covers economic interactions between countries such as international trade.

The book International Economics: Global Markets and International Competition gives the following definition:

International economics describes and predicts production, trade, and investment across countries. Wages and income rise and fall with international commerce even in large rich developed economies like the US. In many countries, international economics is a matter of life and death. Economics as a field began in England in the 1700s with a debate over issues of free international commerce, and the debate continues. Domestic industries pay politicians for protection against foreign competition.

The Institute for International Economics examines a number of hot topics in international economics, such as outsourcing, US steel policy, the Chinese exchange rate, and trade and labor standards. International economists study questions such as "How do sanctions on Iraq impact the lives of the common citizen in the country?", "Do floating exchange rates cause financial instability?", and "Does globalization lead to an erosion of labor standards?". Needless to say, international economists deal with some of the more controversial topics in economics.

Articles on International Trade

• The Trade Deficit and Exchange Rates
• The Economic Effect of Tariffs
• Why Are Tariffs Preferable to Quotas?
• The Softwood Lumber Dispute
• The Logic of Collective Action
• Antidumping: A Villain in International Trade
• The Executive's Local Constituencies

Article on International Exchange Rates

• The Canadian Exchange Rate
• Exchange Rates: What to Use as the Base?
• Exchange Rates and Commodity Prices
• A Beginner's Guide to Exchange Rates and the Foreign Exchange Market

Articles on Globalization

• Does Freer Trade Mean Lower Environmental Standards?