THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY

TYPES OF PROTECTION/IMPORT
BARRIERS
TARIFFS

These are taxes or duties paid for a particular class of

imports or exports.
Imposing taxes on imported and exported goods is a
right of every country.
QUOTAS
Import quotas place a physical restriction on the amount of goods
that can be imported.
They have a similar effect as tariffs, in that the price of imported
goods will rise and domestic producers should gain more business.
However, unlike tariffs, the government does not gain any extra
revenue.
SUBSIDIES TO DOMESTIC
PRODUCERS

Grants given to domestic producers artificially lower

their production costs, so enabling their goods to become
more competitive.
Subsidies therefore act as a barrier to trade
ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS

These take a variety of forms, including labelling, health

and safety regulations, environmental standards and
documentation on country of origin.
In effect, such regulations increase the costs of foreign
producers and so act as a barrier to trade.
THE CASE AGAINST
PROTECTIONISM
There are several problems with protectionism including:
Inefficient resource allocation: trade barriers distort
comparative advantage and reduce specialization, which
will result in lower world output and therefore reduce
living standards
Higher prices and less choice for consumers
THE CASE AGAINST
PROTECTIONISM
Less incentive for domestic producers to become more
efficient in order to compete on a global scale
Difficulty of removing trade barriers. Once such barriers
are introduced, it might prove to be difficult to remove
them because of the adverse effect on domestic
producers (Brewer 2012)
GLOBAL ACTORS
 GLOBAL ACTORS
A global actor refers to any social structure which is able to act
and influence and engage in the global or international system.

International Economic and Non-Governmental Organizations

Financial Organizations. (NGOs)
Multilateral Development Banks

International Governmental Trans-National Corporations

Organizations (IGOs) (TNCs)

Nation-States
Media United Nations (UN) System
 INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC AND
FINANCIAL ORGANIZATIONS

provide the structure and funding for many unilateral and

multilateral development projects.
 deal with the major economic and political issues facing
domestic societies and the international community as a
whole
 INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC AND
FINANCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
promote sustainable private and public sector development
primarily by:
o financing private sector projects located in the developing
world;
o helping private companies in the developing world mobilize
financing in international financial markets; and
o providing advice and technical assistance to businesses and
governments.
 INTERNATIONAL GOVERNMENTAL
ORGANIZATIONS (IGOS)

have international membership, scope and presence

primary members consist of sovereign states
bring member states together to cooperate on a particular
theme or issues that have global impacts and implications
such as human rights, trade, development, poverty, gender or
migration.
 MEDIA

 communication outlets or tools used to store and deliver

information or data.
 refers to components of the mass media communications
industry, such as print media, publishing, the news media,
photography, cinema, broadcasting (radio and television),
and advertising.
 MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS
 are international financial institutions owned by countries.
o Inter-American Development Bank
o African Development Bank
o Asian Development Bank
o European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
provide loans, grants, guarantee, private equity and technical
assistance to public and private sector projects in developing
countries.
 NATION-STATES

 refer to a certain form of state that derives its political

legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a nation
within its sovereign territorial space
 a cultural and/or ethnic entity
implies that the two geographically coincide, and this
distinguishes the nation state from the other types of state,
which historically preceded it
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
(NGOs)
 refers to a legally constituted organization created with no
participation or representation of any government and driven
task-oriented perform a variety of service and humanitarian
functions.
organized around specific issues such as human rights,
environment, gender, or health.
In many jurisdictions these types of organization are defined as
"civil society organizations."
 TRANS-NATIONAL CORPORATIONS
(TNCS)

exert a great deal of power in the globalized world

economy
Through mergers and acquisitions corporations have been
growing very rapidly and some of the largest TNCs now
have annual profits exceeding the GDPs of many low and
medium income countries
 UNITED NATIONS (UN) SYSTEM
the six principal organs of the United Nations:
o General Assembly
o Security Council
o Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
o Trusteeship Council
o International Court of Justice (ICJ)
o UN Secretariat
 preserve international peace and security