Trade, Development and Foreign Debt

by Michael Hudson

In this survey of international economic thought, Michael Hudson rewrites the history of trade, development and debt theorizing. He shows that mainstream free-trade surveys are censorial in excluding the protectionist logic that has guided the trade policy of Europe and the United States, especially by leaving out discussion of the transfer problem and payment of international debts. He points out that most economists throughout history have focused as much on war financing as on trade and development. Free-trade ideology and IMF-style financial austerity under today's rules, rather than benefiting all parties and maximizing welfare, leave "client" nations severely indebted. By excluding dynamics that used to be central to trade theory such as emigration and technology transfer, today's global production and financial policies tend to concentrate economic and political power in the hands of dominant nations. Prof. Michael Hudson (Economics Department, University of Missouri, Kansas City) is a frequent contributor to The Financial Times, Counterpunch, and Global Research.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction, Politics

440 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Michael Hudson is an American economist, Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri–Kansas City and a researcher at the Levy Economics Institute at Bard College, former Wall Street analyst, political consultant, commentator and journalist. He is a contributor to The Hudson Report, a weekly economic and financial news podcast produced by Left Out.

Reviews

[Thomas Ray]

HF1713 H83 1992 Memorial Library

[Abe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good, definitely way more history of economic thought than I really wanted but that’s more in the beginning than in the middle and the end where he focuses more on the theory and empirics. It has 3 essential parts and within these sections he tends to really hammer home his particular argument, probably more than necessary, but to be fair my memory is horrible and I tried to read this way too fast so in the end it was probably to my benefit.