The global financial turmoil that began in August 2007 escalated into a full-blown financial crisis about nine months after the last edition of International Economics: Theory & Policy went to press. This ninth edition therefore comes out al a time when we are more aware than ever before of how events in the global economy influence each country?s economic for tunes. policies, and political debates.The world that emerged from World War II was one in which trace, financial, and even cammunication links between countries were limited. More than a decade into The 21st century, however, the picture is very different. Globalization has arrived, big time. Internacional trade in goods and services has expanded steadily over the past six decades thanks to declines in shipping and communication costs, globally negotiated reductions in goverment trade barriers, the widespread outsourcing of production activities, and a greater awareness of foreign cultures and products.New and better cumunnications technologies, notably the Internet, have revolutionized the way people in all countries obtain and exchange information. Internacional trade in financial assets such as currencies, stocks, and bonds has expanded at a much faster pace even than intetnational product trade.
