economic networks

The role of trading blocs is allow more efficient combinations technology, natural resources, labor forces, and management talent across countries that share geographic proximity while minimizing transactions costs associated with legal, financial, and administrative differences in adjacent nation states including currencies, regulations, and other governance issues. Trading blocks would be unnecessary and redundant if all nations adopted common standards and rule of law governing international trade including:

1. Utilization by all countries of a global cyber-currency with a fixed quantity that only increase annually by the rate of real world economic growth and could not be manipulated in any way by government controlled central banks;

2. A requirement that all international trade be conducted by private/investor owned companies with private sector dominated supply chains that do not receive government subsidies, thereby restricting government owned enterprises to domestic business activity;

3. Creation of an international claims process that imposed penalties and export restrictions on companies that incorporate into their products stolen or unlicensed Intellectual Property;

4. All companies engaged in international trade would also be prohibited from employing child or slave labor, and would be required to observe agreed upon international standards for worker safety and pollution controls, including GHG and other harmful emissions.

Dear all,

to build an trading bloc means to stand together against the rest.

It may end up in founding a Regional Trade Agreement, a Free Trade Agreement a Common Market or a Customs Union.

Examples are the ASEAN, NAFTA, European Union, Pacific-Alliance and very recently the CPTPP (Comprehensve and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

China and the ASEAN+6 are aimig at the creation of the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive and Economic Partnership)....

In times of trade wars and the USA of Donald Trump (America-Frist-Politics) it is of importance to work together.

The EU has negotiated new deals with Japan, Singapore and Vietnam...

Best,

Carsten

Thanks a lot Sir

The role of trading blocs is to increase global economic integration. Whether they accomplish this or not is an empirical question. They increase trade with the members of the newly formed trading bloc and decrease trade with the countries they were excluded from the trading bloc.

If the most efficient countries are left outside the trading block the welfare of its members can decline. WTO allows the establishment of trading blocs although they constitute a second best solution, The first best solution would had been for the entire world to be one trading or even better one economic union.

Nowadays that the US decided to pursue bilateral trade agreements instead of multilateral existing trading bloc or formation of new ones may prove important and useful to many countries and the world economy.

Kind regards,

George K Zestos

Thanks Dear Professional Colleagues

I would like to hear from someone who represents the workers on this topic.

Results have been mixed and highly controversial about NAFTA in both Mexico and the US. The philosophy of Milton Friedman at the University of Chicago largely legitimized the disconnecting of industrial operations from any sense of responsibility to a given community. That is,

OWNERS--COMMUNITY and WORKERS--INVESTORS (pre-Friedman model 1)

went to

OWNERS--INVESTORS (model 2 post-Friedman economics)

While capital can now whizz across the globe in nanosecs, the laborers cannot. Many times, due to such factors as racism in ability to be housed in rentals that are affordable cause many unemployed industrial workers from 90% African American cities like Gary, IN, to form a permanent and immobile under-class. At least 8 of 10 jobs in the steel industry have been lost in Gary, IN. There are over 12,000 vacant houses in Gary. See videos on Gary, IN. (I can into The Arcelor-Mittal flagship full-processing steel mill in East Chicago, IN, next door, but that is a case of a racially integrated town, less subject to white flight or at least slower than Gary, IN.to bottom out.) To keep it simple for now, Gary, IN, will suffice.

Efforts are almost non-existent to help in Gary, IN. The mantra of "help oneself" as individuals is one problem with manufacturers who combine and who, simultaneously, discourage unions or other joint actions from employees.

WHO IS MISSING HERE?

RHETORIC: the use of depersonalized language for workers has progressed to the point of almost erasing the worker in any discussion of industry, trade, and international commerce.

Experiment: Try doing a word search with a thesaurus over any text on either national industry or international trade for key terms for 'workers.' The use of such dehumanized language as 'human capital' reifies working people into things. If the rhetoric changed would this affect the treatment of working people? This would have to be tested. Certainly there was a reason for the disappearance of workers from almost all discussion of trade deals.

When Milton Friedman's protege Deirdre McCloskey writes about culture in her "Bourgeois Virtues" trilogy about how only the middle-class has a culture, she makes similar arguments overtly or by implication that there are some people who are only to be moved about like things, barely worthy of a mention.

I remember once being on a news group in the mid-1990s. Central Europeans were talking about Gypsies (Rom), assuming none were there in that news group being (presumably) too primitive to participate. One particularly verbose user proclaimed that Gypsies (Rom) had never contributed anything to the world's culture. "What have they done in the arts? In the sciences? Anywhere in culture? Where ARE the Gypsies!" he demanded.

The little voice of a woman said, I thought, bravely, "Here I am. Here are the Gypsies."

I strongly believe humans whether families,workers, consumers, children, older folks women and people in general should be the central focus and concern of any international trade arrangements whether these are trading blocs international commercial and trade agreements involving Foreign Direct Investment or capital flows or bilateral trade agreements..Furthermore, people should be defined broadly to include the inhabitants of all countries involved. Such an arrangements should be done in an international settings and some teeth against violators. Businesses often violate principle of placing humans first many of them place short term profit as their main objective. This is why our environment is in the situation it is and we are punished by extreme weather phenomena that become more frequent. Nation states are not helping either most often are influenced by big businesses who influence governments the most. They invest in economic activities where short term profit prevails instead of looking for long term profits to help their country and the world community. Governments should discourage investments to countries that violate human rights and do not support democracy and minorities.

Similarly under the present international system governments allow businesses to suppress worker compensation in order for their businesses to become international competitive and the expense of the businesses of another country,.

Another major concern should be arms proliferation now days not only

countries compete which country will sell more powerful weapons but countries undertake joint production with the country that buys weapons to receive better business deals. Then we t wonder why we have so many armed conflicts in so many parts of the world. There is a lot work to be done to improve living conditions everywhere.

thanks

Dear Georges Kestos,

Good points. I have been referring to what you describe here as "slash and burn" industrialization. (As in Neolithic farming where you chop the forest, farm the land to barrenness, then move on. Okay if humans are few and land appears inexhaustible.)

War and weapons sales are a toxic economic "solution."