Nagging doubts about the benefits of globalisation, and a look at the evidence WHEN David Ricardo, a 19th-century economist, criticised England's protectionist corn laws, he based his argument on the notion of \comparative costs\,these days called comparative advantage The idea, in brief, is that all countries can raise their living standards through specialisation and trade. Even if one country

Home What's New| Site Map Site Index International Monetary Fund Search About the IMF IMF at Work IMF Finances Country Info News Publications The IMF Strikes Back Espaniol Francais By Kenneth Rogoff Economic Counsellor and Director of the Research Department

The title of this paper is a play on that of an admirable recent book by the philosopher Daniel Dennett, Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life(1995). Dennett's book is an examination of the reasons why so many intellectuals remain hostile to the idea of evolution through

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The From The Economist print edition One of the world's main currencies is heading for a fall Get article background THE world has a new international currency: frequent-flyer miles. Launched exactly 21 years ago, they are a lot like money. Collectors check their mileage statements as

\Picture Mom,dad, and the kids in an upper-middle-- Asian family in 100 years'time: After loading up with cash at the corner Citibank, they drive off to Walmart and fill the trunk of their Ford with the likes of Fritos and Snickers. On the way home, they stop at the American-owne Cineplex to catch the latest Disney movie, paying with their Visa card. In the evening, after putting the kids

If the global economy falters, free trade will suffer \I'M MAD as hell, roared the man on stage. \Mad as hell about what is happening to the manufacturing sector in America. \ This is a trade war with China,\ shouted his colleague, \and it's time to fight that war head on.\ The audience cheered in approval. Patriotic songs played in the background, interspersed with extracts from George Bush's address to the nation after September

Can Germany and Japan be reinvigorated? THEY are the world's' second-and- third-large- economies. Measured at market exchange rates, Japan and Germany together make up about 20% of global output. And they are both in a mess

Our Net Book Value just RESEARCH TOOLS Economist.comSURVEYS Shrink-proof Sep 18th 2003 From The Economist print edition Why America's deficit is hard to turn around IF FOREIGNERS lose enthusiasm for American assets, they simply click on a mouse. Capital

Economist.comSURVEYS The price of profligacy Sep 18th 2003 From The Economist print edition How bad is America's borrowing binge? \I JUST think it's a meaningless concept\That was the verdict of Paul O'Neill, George Bush's plain-spoken first Treasury secretary on the current-account deficit. Mr O'Neill reckoned it was silly to worry about external imbalances in a global economy where capital flows