Trade Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between nations, through methods such as high tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and anti-dumping laws in an attempt to protect domestic industries in a particular nation from foreign take-over or competition. This contrasts with free trade, where no artificial barriers to entry are instituted. Trade Protectionism has frequently been associated with economic theories such as mercantilism, the belief that it is beneficial to maintain a positive trade balance, and import substitution. There are two main variants of trade protectionism, depending on whether the tariff is intended to be collected (traditional protectionism) or not (modern protectionism). Modern protectionism: In the modern trade arena many other initiatives besides tariffs have been called protectionist. For example some economists see developed countries’ efforts in imposing their own labor or environmental standards as protectionism. Also, the imposition of restrictive certification procedures on imports are seenContinue reading
International Economics
Role of Fiscal Policy in Economic Development
Fiscal policy refers to the guiding principles of the financial work which are constituted by the state based on political, economic and social development tasks under a certain period. Its purpose is to regulate aggregate demand through government’s spending and tax policies. On the one hand, an increase in government spending will stimulate aggregate demand and increase the national income. Correspondingly, a decrease will depress aggregate demand and reduce national income. On the other hand, a tax is a kind of contraction strength to national income. Therefore, the aggregate demand and the national income will be restrained though increasing government revenue. And they will be increased due to reducing in government revenue as well. The fiscal policy with a distinct class character is formulated by the state, represents the will and interests of the ruling class, and is subject to a certain level of development of social productive forces andContinue reading
Economic Impacts of Deficit Financing
Deficit financing can be regarded as a necessary evil which has to be tolerated, at least in the developing economies; only to the extent it can promote capital formation and economic development. This extent of tolerance is called the “safe limit of deficit financing”. This safe limit shows the amount of deficit financing that the economy can absorb and beyond which ‘inflationary forces’ may be set in motion. The economic impacts of deficit financing are: Deficit Financing and Price Level There are two opinions regarding the effect of deficit financing on the price level especially in a developing country. According to one view, deficit financing need not be inflationary in character especially if it is used during the peace time. The advocates of this view argued that: In a developing economy the existence of non-monetized sector will absorb the issue of new currency and shrink in its size over aContinue reading
Deficit Financing
Deficit financing is understood in different ways in different countries. It is understood as the excess of current expenditure over current revenue which is financed either through public borrowing or the creation of new money by the government. So the deficit budget is also called deficit financing in USA. But in India deficit financing is understood in a different way from deficit budget. While the former refers to a situation where the current expenditure exceeds current revenue of the government, the latter is taken to mean the excess of aggregate expenditure (both on current and capital accounts) over aggregate revenue. The former is called deficit budgeting and the latter deficit financing in India. Deficit financing in Indian context refers to the meeting of budgetary deficit through the creation of new money adding to the existing money supply in the economy. Deficit financing includes any or all of the following inContinue reading
The Principle of Equity in Taxation
Taxation traces its origin to the ancient times as a major source of revenue needed for governance. Kingdoms, monarchies and even dynasties had an elaborate form of taxation imposed on their subjects to source funds that were used to run affairs of the government. These taxes were subjective and biased depending on those in power. Advancement in education led to important studies on the possible forms of taxation that reflected the aspirations and welfare of the people. Owing to this therefore, Adam Smith, accredited as the “Father of modern political Economy” carried out an extensive study in Public Finance seeking to give an in-depth analysis of taxation. Smith documented the findings in his book known as “Wealth of Nations” in 1776. It is in this book that Smith scripted the four maxims of taxation which were later globally adopted as the Canons of Taxation which are summarized as Equity, Certainty,Continue reading
Foreign Capital
Foreign capital or investment has become significant part of sources of funding for various projects in every country. This source of funding has received the attention of both the government as well as the corporate sector that there has been increasing reliance on this source for planning and execution of projects by the government as well as the corporate sector. Foreign capital can come into a country in different forms. Let us first understand these forms of foreign capital before discussing the need for foreign capital. Forms of Foreign Capital Direct Entrepreneurial Investment: In this form of foreign capital, the foreign investors can start a company abroad mainly for the purpose of establishing its branches and subsidiaries in other countries. For instance an American business group may invest in a new project in India directly and start its own affiliate or branch or even a subsidiary. Sometimes, the investors abroadContinue reading