Recent trends in international trade and economic growth

International Trade: Trends in International Trade and the Economy

In recent years many developments are occurring within the world of international trade. These developments are vital to ones understanding of world economy and trade. As technology continues to advance the rate at which corporations can communicate across distant localities, more and more organizations are finding new ways to not only communicate but also trade products and services.

This paper will focus on recent trends and patterns in trade and their effects on the economy. The paper will also examine the potential benefits international trade has to offer participating nations compared with any negative effects free trade may have on the economy or citizens of a particularly nation. One of the more recent developments in international trade is recognition by economists of the importance of understanding industrial organizations from a theoretical perspective (Grimwade, 2000). Hence this paper will also attempt to apply multiple economic theories to help explain international trends in trade.

International Trends

In the last several decades' rapid economic growth has characterized the world economy (Grimwade, 2000). Output is generally growing at a much more rapid pace that in other periods in history, resulting largely from the increase in international trade occurring throughout the world (Grimwade, 2000). International trade has in fact grown faster than global output, resulting from much specialization in global trade between varying nations (Grimwade, 2000). The more specialized an industry becomes the less impact on output, which is why the growth in trade without recent growth in output suggests that more nations are specializing in niche areas of trade (Grimwade, 2000).

Trends in international trade also include more interdependence between nations. Thus what happens in one portion of the world is more likely to influence another due to increasing dependencies among formerly competitive nations; this in turn has resulted in governments experiencing greater difficulty "pursuing independent macroeconomic policies" (Grimwade, 2000: 2).

Yet another trend includes greater structural shifts within international trade suggesting that greater variety of commodity composition now exists among groups participating in world trade; service offerings have also increased among international trading groups (Grimwade, 2000).

Between 1950 and 1990 studies suggest that international trade grew at a rate of 5.8% every year, compared with world output growth of just 3.9% each year (Kitson & Mitchie, 1995; Grimwald 24). This suggest that world trade is increasingly important among nations and growing at exponential rates. This suggests that exports are growing in volume.

With regard to specific trade growth, primary commodities trade meaning trades in mining and agriculture have slowed considerably in recent decades, whereas rapid growth has been realized in other areas including service technology and growth in the areas of transportation and telecommunications (Grimwald, 2000). Technology has in fact spurred much of the specialization and growth in trade now popular among multiple nations.

Other trends and studies reveal that service exports are accounting for a larger portion of total exports of goods and services in recent years (OECD, 2003). Further studies suggest that total service exports for countries exceeded 1.33 trillion in 2003 alone, roughly 78% of total world exports in services (OECD, 2003). This figure is still however relatively small compared with the 5.42 trillion dollars in total goods imported by countries, suggested that services still play a minor role overall in international trade when contrasted to the proportion of total value goods traded (OECD, 2003).

This simply reflects the difficulty experienced by international trade representatives when attempting to deliver services between suppliers and customers who may be remotely located. However, as technology continues to advance and provide new avenues for service delivery in all areas, these statistics are likely to change in the future. The fastest growing areas of service exports include computer and information services (OECD, 2003). This trend is likely to continue in the next several decades, accompanied by growths in other industries including financial and insurance services (OECD, 2003).

Impact of International Trade Growth

By and large most economic theorists agree that international trade has had a positive effect on international economies. Specialization has improved as have many countries willingness to share knowledge and become more interdependent on one another. As international trade has grown so too have the dependency varying economies have on one another; more and more economies are interdependent and generally operate under more open terms of export and imports (Grimwald, 2000). This generally results in positive effects, though can also result in some negative effects as when the economy in one nation takes a downward spiral.

Conclusions

In recent decades international trade has grown at exponential rates. This has benefited the economy of multiple nations simultaneously in many ways. Increasingly nations have become more interdependent on one another for goods and services as technology has afforded new nations opportunities for expanded trade and growth. While international trade in the service industry is growing, particularly with respect to trade related to computer systems and information technology, trade in the service field still generally lags behind trade in goods and products.

Studies suggest that international trade will continue to grow and expand in the upcoming years, further increasing nations interdependency and knowledge sharing capabilities among one another. Technological advances will likely stimulate increased growth in the service sector, making this an increasingly important aspect of international trade. Ultimately the growth in international trade will likely have a positive effect on the world economy and stimulate new growth and financial gains in every industry.

References:

Grimwade, N. International Trade: New Patterns of Trade, Production & Investment.

London: Routledge, 2000.

Kitson, M. And Michie, J. (1995). Trade and growth: A historical perspective. Chapter 1. In

J. Mitchie and J. Grieve Smith (eds.), Managing the global economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Irwin, D. "Does International Trade Kill Good American Jobs?" The American

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OECD. "Structure and Trends In International Trade in Services." Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Available: http://www.oecd.org/document/28/0,2340,en_2825_495649_2510108_1_1_1_1,00.html

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