Defying Gravity: The 1932 Imperial Economic Conference and the Reorientation of Canadian Trade / David S. Jacks.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jacks, David S.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w17242.

NBER working paper series no. w17242

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Defying Gravity

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2011.

Summary:

In the wake of the Great Depression, the Canadian government embarked on a stunning reversal in its commercial policy. A key element of its response was the promotion of intra-imperial trade at the Imperial Economic Conference of 1932. This paper addresses whether or not Canadian trade was able to defy gravity and divert trade flows towards other signatories at Ottawa. The results strongly suggest that the conference was a failure from the Canadian perspective. Potential sources of this failure include unreasonable expectations about the likely reductions in trade costs and a neglect of key considerations related to certainty and credibility.

Notes:

Print version record

July 2011.