Business and Politics

Global Economic Governance: Beyond Management by the United States and the European Union?

Introduction

BAP Editor's Note:

This special issue of Business and Politics introduces a new category of articles focusing on critical issues in ongoing policy debates. Heribert Dieter serves as guest editor of our first issue devoted to policy-relevant articles, centered on the theme of global economic governance. In the future, we plan to regularly publish issues devoted to key policy problems and developments in both the national and global arenas, and we encourage our readers to submit proposals for such issues.

Heribert Dieter, Guest Editor's Note:

This special issue analyzes the regulation of the global economy and the institutions that govern it. In particular, these articles consider the role of the transatlantic powers in shaping international economic governance, and how that role may be changing. Jeffrey Schott analyzes the current problems of the global trade regime in historical context. In his article, Vinod Aggarwal focuses on the historical development of U.S. trade policy and argues that the shift toward piecemeal liberalization has undermined prospects for trade liberalization. Rolf Langhammer examines proposals for a possible transatlantic free trade agreement and criticizes the discriminatory dimension of such agreements. Focusing on current financial crisis, Simon Evenett explores competing hypotheses about the motivation of states in implementing protectionist policies. Richard Higgott discusses systemic issues within the world trading system and scrutinizes the WTO's role as guardian of norms and rules for global trade. The concluding piece by Heribert Dieter discusses the decline of global economic governance, both in trade and in finance.