The development of international trade theory has created a wide array
of different theories, concepts and results. Nevertheless, trade theory
has been split between partial and conflicting representations of
international e- nomic interactions. Diverse trade models have
co-existed but not in a structured relationship with each other.
Economic students are introduced to international economic interactions
with severally incompatible theories in the same course. In order to
overcome incoherence among multiple theories, we need a general
theoretical framework in a unified manner to draw together all of the
disparate branches of trade theory into a single - ganized system of
knowledge. This book provides a powerful - but easy to operate - engine
of analysis that sheds light not only on trade theory per se, but on
many other dim- sions that interact with trade, including inequality,
saving propensities, education, research policy, and knowledge. Building
and analyzing various tractable and flexible models within a compact
whole, the book helps the reader to visualize economic life as an
endless succession of physical ca- tal accumulation, human capital
accumulation, innovation wrought by competition, monopoly and government
intervention. The book starts with the traditional static trade
theories. Then, it develops dynamic models with capital and knowledge
under perfect competition and/or monopolistic competition. The
uniqueness of the book is about modeling trade dyn- ics.
