Countries that entered the European Monetary Union had to do so at exchange rates that are close to equilibrium levels. So when are exchange rates at equilibrium levels? Real Exchange Rates for the Year 2000 discusses the fundamental equilibrium exchange rate (FEER) method and estimates FEERS...

Growing global imbalances threaten to induce a collapse of the dollar, which could in turn produce a severe recession in the rest of the world. This crisis could force countries to say "never again" and search for a system to prevent similar disasters. The system that could do so is a reference...

Product standards and technical regulations are critical to industrial performance and global trade. Reform of national standards, testing, and product certification regimes represents an important new area for international debate. Government agreements to eliminate overlapping certification...

This volume analyzes the economic effects of a prospective free trade agreement between the United States and Colombia. The study uses the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model of world trade and economic activity to analyze the expected trade and other economic impacts of the prospective...

International investors poured vast sums of money into East Asian and Latin American countries during the mid-1990s, when the emerging market boom was at its peak. Then Thailand stumbled and panic seized the markets, and boom gave way to bust. Investors suffered large financial losses, while...

Taiwan has a special status for the United States, as both a leading high-technology economic partner and a place of political and security concern. The authors look at both the quantitative and qualitative evidence on the potential effects of a US-Taiwan free trade agreement (FTA), both for...

The success of the United States' Middle East strategy depends importantly on the future course of US-Egypt economic relations. Deepening bilateral commercial and investment ties can pay both commercial and political dividends as the Obama administration refocuses US strategy in the Middle East....

Air and water pollution blighted northern Mexican cities long before the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was a glimmer on the political horizon. Not surprisingly, when NAFTA became a political reality, environmentalists argued that commercial competition would weaken environmental...

What is the role of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation in relation to private sector political risk insurers and financial institutions supporting the flow of foreign direct investment to emerging markets?This study provides an assessment of OPIC's various missions as a promoter of...

The Asian financial crisis has precipitated significant changes in real exchange rates in the region that will substantially alter the volume and pattern of international trade. The crisis countries will increase their exports and, especially, reduce their imports. Japan, China, and the other...