Essays in International Economics

J. Marcus Fleming, who applies economic theory to problems of international economic policy, has long advised policy makers national and international. The three pieces in Part I of his book apply the theory of the "second best"—a branch of welfare economics in which the author was a pioneer—to problems of trade discrimination and restriction. Part II consists of four essays on international liquidity and reflects the author's role in the inauguration of a new type of fiduciary international reserve asset—the Special Drawing Right of the International Monetary Fund. The seven essays of Part III, two of which are published for the first time, deal with various aspects of the process of removing disequilibria in international payments with the least possible sacrifice of domestic economic objectives.