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This article presents an empirical test on comparative cost theories. The tests are undertaken for three pairs of countries: Japan and the U.S., Peru and the U.S. and the Great Britain and the U.S. Although the choice of countries is determined by the availability of the relevant data, the coverage is interesting since the countries involved are at different levels of economic development, have different relative factor prices and due to differences in their geographical location, are likely to have different endowments of particular natural resources. The main finding of the tests discussed in this paper is that comparative costs can be explained in terms of the combined influence of the causal factors stressed in the Ricardian and Heckscher-Ohlin theories, even though neither theory gives satisfactory results when considered independently of the other.

The article presents a reference guide for monetary affairs. 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. "Foreign Trade and Finance: Essays in International Economic Equilibrium and Adjustment," is written by William R. Allen and Clark Lee Allen. Part I of "Balance of Payments and Economic Growth," by John M. Letiche, presents a critical review of current theoretical explanations of the international balancing process. Part II is an application of this theoretical analysis to particular issues of economic development. "Exchange Stabilization Funds," by Mordechai E. Kreinin is an abstract of a doctoral thesis completed at the University of Michigan in 1954. In "International Financial Transactions and Business Cycles," by Oskar Morgenstern, the interaction of international money markets and the spread of business cycles in the periods of 1879-1914 and 1919-1938 are studied.