Developmetn Studies

eBook edited by San Bilal and Bernard Hoekman

The international trade scene is in turmoil: trade conflicts and tensions are generating uncertainty for businesses and undermining the rules-based global trading system. Trade and trade policy have long been central elements of EU external policy. Trade policy is used to pursue multiple objectives, including economic interests as well as political, developmental, environmental and values-based objectives. EU trade agreements not only aim at reducing foreign market access barriers but condition the terms of preferential access to the European single market on non-trade regulation in partner countries in areas such as social and labour standards. Is this an effective strategy? Does it come at the cost of attaining economic objectives? Has the emphasis on bilateral and preferential trade arrangements come at the expense of multilateral cooperation? This collection of essays brings together different perspectives on some of these questions. The diversity of approaches and views illustrate the complexity of the EU trade-related policy agenda and suggest that trade-offs might not always be properly assessed, and the balance struck could be improved.

This eBook has been supported by funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770680 (RESPECT: Revitalizing Europe’s Soft Power and External Cooperation and Trade). https://voxeu.org/content/perspectives-soft-power-eu-trade-policy

This reflection paper will make critical discussions concerning the book “Germany’s Economic Renaissance: Lessons for the United States” (2014) written by Jack Ewing who is European Economics Correspondent for The New York Times based in Germany. The book contains 185 pages and was published in 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States. The general topic which was covered by the author is about Germany’s economic obstruction and parallelly, about its renaissance starting from 19th century till 2010’s. The book covers the issues, such as a brief history of made in Germany, the soul of the German economy, mini multinationals, the education of a German manager, and lessons for the rest of the world.