ABSTRACT
There is nothing new about international trade in North America. By most economists’ measurements, the process was well under way prior to the turn of the previous century. U.S. foreign trade as a percent of GDP is similar to what it was in the early 1900s. Many of the predecessors of today’s changes can be found in the opening up of markets a hundred years ago. At that time, many countries, first and foremost England, had already achieved a high degree of openness, which was scaled back again in the wake of wars, economic crises, and not very liberal economic policies on the part of the most powerful countries. 1
