International Trade of Goods and Services

In a rare consensus, economists tend to agree, with important exceptions, that there are benefits from trade in the form of more efficient resource allocation. The first section below provides the important analysis of the gains from trade. The relaxation of the conditions of the first-best of efficiency leads to the analysis of distortions or market failures that motivate more analysis. The main principle is to correct domestic distortions with domestic policy instruments, allowing the economy to obtain the benefits from trade. It is difficult to relate empirically trade openness and economic growth.