Edward Nell On Managed Trade

Edward Nell in Free Market Conservatism: A Theory Of Critique And Practice, 1984:

… The second set of controls needed would prevent the flight of capital overseas. Some capital mobility would be permitted; the point would be to regulate it in the national interest, rather than permitting capital flows to follow anticipated profits (profits that may never be realized, as in the loans to some ‘developing’ countries, which went into the pockets, and Swiss bank accounts, of corrupt officials). Along with these controls, a policy of managed trade will be needed; countries must not be required to generate recessions in order to bring imports down to the level of their exports. Selective import controls must be permitted and balance of payments deficits must be financed without requiring ‘austerity’. Again, it is not technically impossible to see how to do this; instead of penalizing the weak—those who run deficits—penalties could be assessed against the strong—the surplus countries—who would be required to promote the loans to finance the deficits. Instead of cutting back imports through austerity, deficit-running countries could be encouraged to modernize their export industries

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