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The article comments on the articles of economists Peter Oppenheimer and Robert Mundell on the rise of gold prices. The author discusses his views on the recommendations for raising the price of gold and his opinion on the views of Mundell on the changes in the International Monetary Fund charter. He explains that an initiative from the U.S. and cooperation from South Africa are required for a rise in the price of gold. Several proposals of Mundell for an International Monetary Pool are also discussed.

The article presents a summary of the papers presented at a round table conference on problems of the U.S. commercial policy. The Chairman remarked that two types of conflict had emerged in American commercial policy: the conflict between their foreign trade policy and certain of the objectives in New Deal domestic policy, and the conflict of their foreign policy with the foreign policies of the so-called "totalitarian" states. Professor Frank A. Southard, Jr.'s paper states that the trade policy of Germany has not been more successful than that of the United States. It has not succeeded in driving American exports out of foreign markets, nor has it prevented the United States from finding countries willing to support a non-discriminatory trade policy. Trade agreements have already been made with twenty countries, accounting for about 60 per cent of their foreign trade. E.D. Durand's paper dealt with "The European War and the Import Trade of the United States." The first World War resulted in a quantitative decrease in American imports, and sharp changes in the commodity composition of the trade. There was a marked decline (in terms of value) in the percentage of total imports furnished by Europe and a corresponding decline in the imports of the finished manufactured goods which are the typical products of that region. The shift from indirect to direct trade in such commodities as wool, tin and rubber was also responsible for the decline in imports from Europe.

The article presents a discussion on economic effects of lend-lease and the stabilization of the international economy. The author appreciates economist Harry D. White's vigorous contention that new international financial machinery in the form of an international bank and an international stabilization fund should be established on behalf of all the United Nations. Economist Eugene Staley recommended the establishment of a new international organization, which would administer the distribution of lend-lease supplies, and here again all the United Nations were to have a voice in its direction. Turning specifically to papers on the economic effects of lend-lease, there are two points, which the author likes to raise. The first point concerns the matter of equality of sacrifice. It is suggested that when approaching the problem of equality of national sacrifice, one should be guided by the principle of proportional taxation-and not progressive taxation. The second point, which the author wishes to raise in regard to the lend-lease papers, concerns the effect of lend-lease operations on the current channels of trade.

This section presents a list of papers and books about economic relations.

The article presents a list of books and articles on economic relations. Some of the books and articles on world trade are "Industrial Growth and World Trade," by Alfred Maizels; "The Ohlin-Heckscher Theory of the Basis of Commodity Trade," by J.L. Ford, published in the September 1963 issue of "Economic Journal"; "World Trade Outlook," published in the October 1963 issue of "International Commerce." Some of the articles on regional economic groups include "America Gets an Unexpected Break," by Henry S. Reuss, published in the Fall 1963 issue of "The Atlantic Community Quarterly"; "A Canada-U.S. Free Trade Arrangement," by Sperry Lea; "U.S. Should Move Toward Common Market With U.K.," by I. Harold Kellar, published in the November 1963 issue of "Export Trade"; "International Manual on the European Economic Community," by Henry Junckerstorff. Some of the books and articles on economic development and aid are "The Wedding Income Gap," by Gunnar Myrdal, published in the September 1963 issue of "International Development Review"; "Economic Development: Past and Present," by Richard T. Gill.

The article presents a list of books and papers about economic development and aid. The books and papers include "Development Planning," by Albert Waterston, C.J. Martin, August T. Schumacher and Fritz A. Steuber, "Unsolved Problems of International Development," published in "International Development," "Patterns of Economic Growth," "Developing Countries," published in "Realites," "What Do We Know About Planning," published in "International Development Review," and "Development Finance: Planning and Control," by Ursula K. Hicks.

Two papers on the role and status of the U.S. in the world economy during 1940 are presented. The first paper examined the role that war played in the position of the U.S. in international economy. In the second paper, the impact of more than a year of war on the international economic relations of the U.S. is described. The author believes that the most important element in the country's economic relations with the rest of the world is foreign trade. Significant changes in imports and exports have occurred during the war.

This article presents views on the study about the trade policies in developing countries. According to the author the nontariff barrier makes it difficult for the developing country exporter to cope than the exporter in a rich country who has resources, marketing apparatus and quality control. The author also presented that in evaluating alternative growth strategies in developing nations the cost of implementing social and economic objectives relating to income distribution, employment, land reform, spreading of technological and market knowledge and political modernization must always be accounted.

This section presents a list of reference sources dealing with management and international economic relations.

The arguments for and against devaluation are usually based on speculation from theory or intuition, but rarely on statistical evaluations of past devaluations. The relatively frequent devaluations in many developing countries[2] stress the need and provide some data for such statistical analysis. But even where data exist for at least relatively simple regression analysis, conceptual issues concerning both dependent and independent variables complicate empirical work and confuse policy discussions. This paper discusses several such issues which arose in an empirical study of Israel, and the solutions adopted.
Section I considers what is the most suitable dependent variable. Sections II and III discuss explanatory variables--exchange rates and a growth factor, respectively. Conspicuous by its absence is a foreign demand variable: several attempts to introduce such a variable did not lead to significant results, mainly because of high serial correlation between foreign demand indicators and domestic growth indicators. It may also be argued that Israel's aggregated industrial exports--to which the empirical work refers--generally faced highly (if not infinitely) elastic demand curves. Thus, our main concern is with export supply functions. Some empirical results are presented in Section IV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a discussion on international economic relations. Economist Lynn R. Edminster replied to some comments made on his paper. Edminster pointed out that he was handicapped by not having the text of the statements by his commentators. Edminster referred first to remarks made about a statement, in which he qualified his general objective of encouraging an increase of imports. Edminster had said that reasonably efficient industries, which nevertheless require some tariff protection for their continued existence, should not be sacrificed. Economist Geoffrey Crowther had commented also on Edminster's statement that if internal programs for promoting full employment, or for any other purpose, are permitted to take a form where they cannot be executed without the establishment of controls, which stifle essential economic relationships with other countries, they will fail of their purpose. Economist Geoffrey Crowther had commented also on Edminster's statement that if internal programs for promoting full employment, or for any other purpose, are permitted to take a form where they cannot be executed without the establishment of controls, which stifle essential economic relationships with other countries, they will fail of their purpose.

The article focuses on basic issues in postwar international economic relations. To a large extent the paper is concerned with those fundamental international economic issues which seem likely to persist for some years after the second World War and not with immediate postwar questions, which are of a more specialized and interim character. It must obviously be an essay in speculation. It should be emphasized at the outset that the views either expressed or implied in it are purely personal and in no sense either official or intended to represent other Canadian opinion. In this selection the author considers only questions of policy and action, and not the organization or machinery needed to decide upon policies or carry them out. Obviously some of the readers must give hard thought to organization and machinery-they cannot be improvised when the need arises. But the author thinks that experience between the wars has taught the readers that the most elaborate international machinery will avail little.

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This paper examines the impact of foreign aid on economic development in the context of a neoclassical growth model. Its conclusion is that foreign aid, whether in the form of capital goods or consumer goods, has a purely transitory effect on an underdeveloped country's per capita consumption (which is used as the welfare criterion) in the context of the usual neoclassical growth model; when, however, alternative assumptions (which may be more appropriate to an underdeveloped country) about the rate of population growth and the propensity to save are grafted into this model, foreign aid, in the form of capital goods or consumer goods, does have a permanent effect on an underdeveloped country's per capita consumption, if the aid exceeds a critical minimum. Section I develops the properties of a simple neoclassical growth model that are essential to the analysis; section II analyses the impact of foreign aid in this context; in section III, appropriate modifications are made to the simple model and the impact of foreign aid is then re-analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a reference guide for communist economic relations. Names of publishers of books and the addresses of periodicals are provided to aid readers. Listings include only basic material, not news items or reports of transitory significance. "The Economy, Liberty and the States," by Calvin B. Hoover, analyzes the economic systems of the West and of Russia and her satellites. "Can Free Enterprise and State Trading Coexist in International Commerce?" by Wolfgang Friedmann, discusses the degree of freedom and control in the foreign trade of several countries and how this limits trade to dealings within closely-knit groups of like-minded nations. "The Challenge of Soviet Power," by Allen W. Dulles, discusses the military, economic, and subversive threats of the U.S.S.R. "Economic Comparison: USA And USSR," presents comparisons on population and area, basic production, exports, living levels and military strength, of the two nations. In "Soviet Trade and Canadian Business," by J.G. Myers, many statistics are given to show the present and possible future effects of Soviet expansion into foreign trade on Canada's internal economy and external trade.

In a recent paper in this Review, J. Bhagwati and T. N. Srinivasan [1] investigated the question of optimal policies required to attain non-economic objectives like ensuring minimum production and employment levels in particular industries as well as preventing excess importation and consumption of some goods. The framework of BhagwatiSrinivasan's analysis is the traditional trade model. In this note we consider three alternative models which allow for inter-industry linkages, the use of imported intermediate goods and non-traded goods. In addition to the non-economic objectives analyzed by Bhagwati-Srinivasan these models allow distinction between maintaining net and gross production levels as well as between employment of domestic and imported inputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International trade theorists have been almost alone in considering seriously the question of devising the optimal economic policy when social utility, defined as a function of the currently available flow of goods and services, cannot take the maximum value that is attainable within the framework of technological, resource and trading opportunities, owing to constraints provided by "non-economic" objectives. Four major varieties of non-economic objectives can be distinguished: (1) the output level in specific activities may be considered to be of strategic importance and hence may not be allowed to fall below specified magnitudes; (2) self-sufficiency, that is, the value of imports (or exports, under balanced trade), may be considered to be sufficiently strategic to entail that its level not exceed a specified magnitude; (3) factor employment in certain activities, for example labour in agricultural activities, may be considered vital for defence or "national character" and hence may not be allowed to fall below specified levels; and finally (4) domestic availability of certain commodities may be considered to be relevant to "social policy", requiring that it not exceed certain specified levels, as for example with "luxury" consumption. In each of these cases, the question of maximizing social utility becomes a problem in the theory of the second-best, for each such non-economic objective constitutes an additional constraint subject to which the social utility function would be maximized. And corresponding to each such constrained solution, there is an optimal form of policy intervention that will enable a competitive system to maximize social utility. This paper is addressed to an analysis of the optimal policies, when the economist is faced with these non-economic objectives (each taken in turn, during the ensuing analysis). Throughout, the model assumed involves two primary factors, two final outputs, production functions embodying constant returns to scale and diminishing returns along isoquants, a well-behaved concave social utility function, and fixed supplies of factors of production. In Section I, it is also assumed that there is no monopoly power in trade, so that the external terms of trade are fixed throughout the analysis. This assumption is relaxed in Section II. The analysis involves the derivation of necessary (and under our assumptions, sufficient) conditions for a solution to the constrained maximum problem implicit in each case. However, all cases in Section I are illustrated diagrammatically as well, so as to bring out the essence of the analysis more clearly. It can be shown that an optimum solution exists in all cases, and the analysis will be devoted to a characterization of the optimum solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a discussion on international investment. International investment is one of the really important problems which people have to face after the war and it raises two questions, which seem to be are of urgent practical importance: the relation between controlled or collectivist economic system as opposed to the prewar relations, which were still determined to a considerable extent by individual decisions; and the relation between business cycles and investment generally. Both economists Victor Schoepperle and C.P. Kindleberger agree that foreign lending will be desirable after the war and both agree that there should be some form of control and what is extremely likely, that whether there ought to be or not, that there will be control. Both agree that the danger of doing it by government control is mainly that the ordinary checks on productivity, provided by prudent investment policy and the sieve of the rate of interest, may be lost sight of. All speakers of the discussion pointed out that loans will not be made unless someone is willing to make them, but with controlled economies it seems very certain that all sorts of considerations will come in besides the expected return to the lender.

The article presents a discussion on multilateral trading. One author focuses on the multilateral world trading system as discussed by economist Folke Hilgerdt. The author regrets that Hilgerdt did not elaborate on the point that the restoration of multilateralism on sound principles would require international planning on an extensive scale. A realistic approach to the problem of restoring world trade requires something more than a mere reiteration of nineteenth century principles of foreign trade policy. Professor Henry C. Simons offers a program of traditional liberalism, to be enforced by a supranational government. Professor Simons represents one school, which believes economists must restore free trade and at the same time restore a minimum degree of freedom in the domestic economy. There is another school of thought, which favors national economic planning after the war and argues that such planning may necessarily entail a control over foreign trade. Economists William W. Lockwood's discussion of postwar trade relations in the Far East impressed the second author as an excellent illustration of the importance of the maintenance of multilateral trade.

The article presents comments on the problems of international economic policy by providing various discussions from specialized conferences. There are two persistent enemies of international commerce. The one is restrictionism, the other discrimination. Great Britain and the United States alike have tried to compromise with both. Neither American protectionism, even as modified by the Hull agreements, nor the system of preferential tariffs, as exemplified in trade treaties among Great Britain and the Dominions, is consistent with international prosperity nor with international friendship. According to one of the economists, for the European continent foreign trade is simply vital for maintaining of decent living possibilities, it is not a question of a degree of economic stability but of the whole economic structure. The postwar balance of trade may be unfavorably affected by the structural changes in the British balance of payments, as Great Britain has been a big surplus importer from the European Continent, supplying it with dollars and other overseas exchanges.

This article discusses the determinants in the international flow of capital function and to examine their different implications for macroeconomic policies in a general equilibrium framework. Interdependence between national economies has grown, and this growth has increased the importance of incorporating the interdependence into macroeconomic policy formation. In this study, Keynesian model of economics is being used to determine the effects of macroeconomic policies. An important interdependence between economies in a world of fixed exchanged rates is the link between their money supplies.

The article presents a list of reference material related to economic development and aid. The article "Industrialization and Productivity," discusses the size of plant in underdeveloped countries, problems of small-scale industry, principally in Japan, management of industrial enterprises in underdeveloped countries and problems of operating technological research institutes. Another article "Patterns in Industrial; Growth," analyses of the significant changes between 1938, 1948, 1953 and 1958 in the role, output, employment and productivity of the mining, manufacturing, construction, and gas and electricity producing industries of the world. One of the articles "Plain Talk in Five Panels," analyzes five groups of professional workers who discusses topics like causes of success and failure in technical assistance projects; balance in economic development; selection and training for cross-cultural work; what the less developed countries want; the role of development banks. The article named "Redressing the Balance," presents an English viewpoint on the U.S. request that Europe start to shoulder aid to underdeveloped countries.

The article focuses on the paper "Toward a New International Economic System," by Keizai Doyukai and Committee for Economic Development. Much of this joint statement by the CED and Keizai Doyukai essentially restates their traditional progressive economic philosophies: liberalization of trade, freedom of international movement of capital, greater aid to developing nations and so forth. Of chief interest therefore are those parts, which indicate current priorities and areas of differences in views. Two points set the outlook of the statement in perspective. First, the general requirement is for a new economic system that accommodates the rapidly changing economic relations among countries. Second, neither the important differences in the trade and domestic economic policies of the two countries nor the serious clashes of economic interest that still exist should be minimized. The issue of internal verses external effects of government polices recognized as central by presenting it as the first item under "Basic Principles."

The article discusses the distribution of "Special Drawings Rights" (SDRs). As originally conceived, the plan to allocate SDRs was based upon quotas established by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The authors note that this arrangement was inspired chiefly by political expedience, and argue that more effective means of distribution could be devised. They discuss why IMF quotas are inappropriate and propose alternatives. Regressions based on empirical data are presented in support of their views.

The article discusses the Marshall Plan for European recovery and the foreign policy of the U.S. The author reflects that the foreign policy of the U.S. has shifted from negotiating with the U.S.S.R. for peace to implementing economic assistance programs to Europe, or the so-called Marshall Plan. He suggests on using aid as a political weapon to be able to reach agreement with the Soviet Union through the exchange of goods between eastern and western Europe. He opines that for the Marshall Plan to be effective, European countries must initiate self-help plans and mutual assistance among these countries.

The article presents details of published literature concerning economic aspects of the Communist bloc. The listed books include "The Kremlin and World Politics," by Philip E. Mosely and "The Myth of the Communist Superman," by Clarence B. Randall.

Examines the Bank of Canada economywide econometric model, which was modified to incorporate a flow model of Canadian issues in the U.S. Significance of the model to the Canadian exemption from the interest-equalization tax; Effect of the interest-equalization tax on the borrowing in the U.S. by non-exempt countries; Numerical representation.

Focuses on the salience of linkage in international economic relations. Developing countries' search for concessions from their more developed counterparts; European Economic Community's general system of preferences; Common agricultural policy.

The article presents details of published literature concerning world economy. "World Economic Survey, 1959," covers investment trends and policies in the 1950's and also covers current economic developments. Each section is divided by industrial countries, under-developed countries (or primary exporting countries, and centrally planned economies).

The article presents details of published literature concerning communist economic relations. The book "U.S.-Soviet Trade: Facts for the Businessman's Appraisal," by William H. Campbell is a study of the rising volume of trade between the U.S. and Soviet Union and some predictions of how future trade will develop as well as some suggestions on how to develop such trade.

The article examines the effect of tariffs in the 1920s on the level of import in the U.S. A principal weakness of the international economy during the 1920's was the persistent imbalance in international payments. Numerous countries in central and eastern Europe, and among non-European primary producers, had serious merchandise trade deficits, which were not compensated for by current invisible transactions. The influence on United States foreign trade of both tariff changes and internal inflation is basically one of price responsiveness, for tariff variations, like internal price movements, influence imports of foreign commodities by their effect on relative prices. Arguments that suggest that lower United States tariffs, and inflation, would have stimulated imports thus rest on the assumption of a high price elasticity of demand for these products. Yet estimates of the relevant price elasticities for the inter-war period have generally shown United States imports to be price inelastic. Economic historians have for the most part ignored the implications of these estimates, probably because of the extensive methodological criticisms.

This article represents a preliminary attempt to explain the international disparities in income elasticities of demand with economic variables. Evidence has been found that income elasticities of demand are significantly related to the level of income and less significantly related to relative prices. The relationship between the elasticities and income underscores the need for more research on demand functions and Engel curves which, unlike the double-log function, allow for elasticities, which vary with respect to income. Important strides have already been made in this area. Much of the variation in the income elasticities of demand remains to be explained perhaps by non-economic variables. Perhaps a detailed covariance analysis using several surveys from different countries would help to resolve this problem. It would appear to be important to the study of the demand side of economic growth and structural change that we discover generalizations about the behavior of income elasticities of demand as economies develop.

The article discusses the concept of economic population optimum, foreign trade and world economy. The theory of the economic optimum is framed in the setting of the isolated state. This setting reflects a socio-political world organized in molt or less independent national states between which movement of persons, goods and services has become increasingly more restricted. In this setting the theory would appear to be directly applicable to those great societies which are of continental dimensions and relatively self-contained. The first and most striking consequence of the introduction of foreign trade into optimum theory is the partial transformation of the mode of operation of the ball tendencies upon which the optimum rests. To the extent that international trade promotes a living international division of labor, the various national units may develop specialized industries which can attain the relatively massive size required to realize the principal benefits of increasing returns on the basis of relatively small populations.

According to the author, world demands for reconstruction and development will obviously be immense after the war. These demands will in many cases necessitate huge "additional" imports into foreign countries. Dollars to pay for these additional imports in many cases will not be available. Consequently large long-term loans will be needed. Private international capital markets will not be broad enough to satisfy demands. Capital requirements due to the destruction to be replaced will vary in size according to what might be described as environmental conditions. If they are to promote peace and stability by economic means, they have to adjust their domestic economic policies in various ways to the requirements of foreign countries with which they seek agreements. Once they have made their adjustments, they can reasonably aspire to establish intimate ties with those foreign countries with which there exist ideological affinities, a common political and economic outlook, and/or common economic and political interests.

The article focuses on the need for postwar foreign lending in the U.S. In recent years, with emphasis in economic analysis on the significance of investment in the maintenance of economic stability, discussions of opportunities for investment in this or that field have provoked many heated controversies. Economists have arrived at widely divergent conclusions as to future of capitalism and on the role of government in the postwar world, because they started from quite different assumptions as to the need for investment for industrial purposes that would exist after the war. The same observation applies to the narrower field of foreign investment. A need for capital loans does not exist in the abstract, fixed and invariable; it exists only within the framework of existing economic and political institutions; and it is futile to give any statistical estimate of the need for postwar foreign lending without regard to the economic and political structure of the postwar world and to the role that American business and the American government is willing to play in that world. Borrowers' need for capital cannot be considered independently of the attitude of investors.

The article presents abstracts of articles about international economics. In a given country, two different non-optimal tariffs (a lower one and a higher one) may yield the same level of satisfaction with respect to international trade. From the point of view of world trade, however, the lower non-optimal tariff has a definite advantage over the higher one. It is therefore possible, under certain conditions, to increase world gains without affecting the level of satisfaction of a protective country: it suffices to replace the higher tariff by the lower one. There are two simple formulas available to economists who recommend some pre-determined rate of growth of the domestic money supply as a substitute for discretionary monetary policy: a constant rate of growth of the nominal money supply, and a constant rate of growth of the real money supply which would allow an economy to adjust its money supply for past periods of greater-than-expected growth (be it real, real and monetary or even purely monetary).

This article presents a review on the 1973 Economic Report of the President which aimed to serve two purposes that are not entirely compatible. The author seeks to show that the economic policies of the President and his party will be successful in solving the grievous problems created by the foolish mistakes made by the other party when it was last in power. According to the author, other important economic policy problems receiving little or no attention in the Report are environmental preservation, energy, health and health care, and the economic role and status of minority groups.

The article reports on the difficulty of the United States government in giving economic assistance to the Republic of Korea. The decision of the Korean government to revise the institutional framework for the distribution of aid goods. The Bank of Korea, along with other Korean government offices administered the allocation and sales of aid dollars. The recipients of aid from the United States are required to use the dollars to import the goods specified in the allocation authorization. The sale of dollars in the open market removes the profit base and increase the government revenue. A proposal to revise the allocation program aim to remove the profit opportunities.

The policies that affect the foreign trade of the U.S. are bound to be re-examined in the spring of 1953. The U.S. has striven, ever since the war, to restore the health of the world's economy. It has contributed to economic reconstruction, over the past seven years, more than 35 billion dollars in loans and grants. It has sought to stimulate the flow of goods and services. Recovery has been realized but trade has not been freed. Currencies are still inconvertible, investment sluggish and commerce subjected to restrictive and discriminatory controls. It is the purpose of this article to show just where that policy stands today, to point put the direction that it should take in the future and to ask whether it is likely to go that way. Duties have been sharply cut. But the cuts have never been enacted into law. They are embodied in the trade agreements. And these agreements stand on shaky props. The Trade Agreements Act itself expresses a protectionist philosophy. Its purpose, as stated, is to increase their export trade. Removal of barriers to imports is needed for prosperity; it is even more important to national security

Requirements for an expanding world economy necessarily include an adequate flow of foreign investment and multilateral trade. There is no need for me to emphasize the need for capital in the undeveloped areas and it is hard to see how those areas can expand if their freedom to trade is limited by restrictions of a "colonial system." The present regime of inconvertible currencies hampers multilateral trade and reduces private foreign investment to a trickle. Private investors will keep their funds at home unless they can be assured that returns from foreign investment will be convertible. Unless convertibility is restored to the major currencies of the world, economic development, on which so much depends, will depend on government grants even if political tensions are eased. But a majority of economists, as well as governments, do not seem to be particularly concerned with convertibility as a policy objective at the present time. They are more preoccupied with calculations of terms of trade. While the author argues that economic arguments may have quickened nationalistic tendencies, it is too much to hope that argument alone will reverse the trend. I have no sympathy whatever with the highly vocal minority of economists who seem to believe that vehement protest will restore order to the international economy. Under present day political conditions it is futile and unreasonable to expect governments to permit their domestic policies to be dominated by the requirement of adherence to an international standard. On the other hand, if countries insist on pursuing their domestic policies without regard to international consequences, an orderly international system is unlikely if not impossible.