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This article reviews changes in institutional arrangements among developed countries over the past twenty-five years, and assesses how far these can be explained in terms of recent theories of different models of capitalism. It argues that globalization has acted to undermine central features of the key models and weaken the position of labour. The account in this article points to limitations in the current varieties of capitalism approaches in explaining recent patterns of institutional changes and sketches possible bases for enhancing the approach. Comparisons are made with economic systems in developing countries, particularly in Latin America. Keywords: varieties of capitalism; globalization; international comparisons; economic development.

The UK economy has long been associated with a weak balance of payments, reflecting an underlying growth model reliant on private household consumption. A deficit in goods trade, chiefly with the EU, has been offset by surpluses in services trade and foreign investment earnings. The Single Market provided wider markets for the UK, but did not fundamentally alter Britain's structural weaknesses. The Brexit vote took place against the background of Britain running its largest peacetime current account deficit. Financing Britain's external position represents a key challenge post-Brexit. Post-Brexit models for Britain partially address this. Any emergent model will critically depend on the nature of the Brexit deal with the EU, not least in terms of the impact on financial services and on supply chains. This paper sets out the recent evolution of the UK's current account position, particularly in relation to the EU. It then highlights particular areas of potential disruption from Brexit and sketches out scenarios of possible evolution of the Britain's external position in response to this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workers Without Frontiers: The Impact of Globalization on International Migration. By Peter Stalker. London and Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2000. Pp.xii + 163. [pound]12.95. ISBN 92 2 1108546 While the [...]

Market Integration, Regionalism and the Global Economy. Edited by Richard E. Baldwin, Daniel Cohen, Andr[acute{e}] Sapir and Anthony Venables. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Pp. xix + 344. [pounds]45 and [...]

Politics, Economics, and Culture Globalization--the 'big idea' of the late twentieth century--lacks precise definition. More than that, it is in danger of becoming, if it has not already become, the [...]

Globalization and National Economic Welfare. By Mica Panic. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Pp.xv + 286. [pounds sterling]60. ISBN 0 333 77283 0 This is a collection of the author's essays [...]