Plain-language explanation.
International trade theory explains why countries trade and the pattern of trade. Economic history examines how economies developed over centuries. Together they provide the long-run perspective essential for understanding contemporary economic challenges.
Core concepts and standard treatment.
Core international trade covers trade theory (comparative advantage — Ricardo — opportunity cost basis of trade; Heckscher-Ohlin — countries export goods intensive in abundant factor; Leontief paradox; Stolper-Samuelson — distributional consequences; new trade theory — Krugman — economies of scale — intra-industry trade — Grubel-Lloyd index; gravity model — bilateral trade proportional to GDPs and 1/distance — border effect — Anderson and van Wincoop), trade policy (optimal tariff argument; infant industry and strategic trade policy — Brander-Spencer; WTO — GATT Uruguay Round — dispute settlement — MFN, national treatment; PTAs — CPTPP, RCEP, USMCA; trade adjustment costs — Autor Dorn Hanson — China shock), and economic history (first Industrial Revolution — Britain 1760-1840 — cotton, steam, coal, iron — Allen high wages hypothesis; second Industrial Revolution — electricity, chemicals, mass production; Bretton Woods 1944 — IMF, World Bank, GATT — Nixon shock 1971; Golden Age 1950-1973 — 5% world growth — Maddison).
Deeper theory, debates and edge cases.
Advanced international trade and economic history covers globalisation (Baldwin Great Convergence — second unbundling — GVCs — fragmentation; trade in value added — OECD-WTO TiVA; WTO AB impasse — US veto; US-China trade war — Section 301 tariffs — strategic decoupling — friendshoring; semiconductor export controls — CHIPS Act — BIS Entity List; EU CBAM carbon border adjustment 2023 — WTO compatibility), the great divergence (Pomeranz — why Europe industrialised before China; Acemoglu and Robinson institutions vs Diamond geography; Mokyr culture and technology — European Enlightenment; Clark A Farewell to Alms; Maddison database; global income inequality — Lakner and Milanovic elephant curve — 1988-2008), and applied economic history (cliometrics — Fogel railroad social saving; Broadberry et al British economic growth 1270-1870; historical national accounts — Maddison Project; path dependence — David QWERTY; North institutions institutional change; war and economic history — Broadberry Harrison WW2 — war finance — inflation).
How it is applied in practice.
At the senior trade economist and economic historian level, practitioners contribute to Journal of International Economics and Economic History Review; advise on trade policy (FCDO trade analysis — DBET FTA negotiations — CPTPP accession; OBR trade analysis — Brexit frontier effects; Trade Remedies Authority TRA anti-dumping investigations); lead competitiveness research (UKRI Prosperity Partnerships; Industrial Strategy Council; IPPR Centre for Economic Justice; Resolution Foundation living standards; Productivity Institute Manchester); contribute to international governance (WTO DG Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala reform agenda; OECD Trade Policy Briefs; UNCTAD RPTAD); and apply historical analysis (BoE 800 years of data — Schularick; Bernanke Nobel Prize — Great Depression parallels; Reinhart and Rogoff This Time Is Different — eight centuries of financial folly).