Exchange And Trade Control In Theory And Practice

The Classical economist of the 19th century, with his faith in the ultimate efficiency and equity of free, impersonal markets, would certainly be amazed and dismayed by the developments in foreign exchange markets during the last thirty-five years. With the exception of the United States no important trading nation in the world of today maintains a freely convertible currency. On the contrary, each nation maintains a more or less comprehensive system of controls over the receipts and payments which can be effected in international markets. Recent efforts to reduce the extent and rigor of exchange regu lation, notably in Western Europe, have yielded modest results; it seems unlikely, however, that foreign exchange transactions will ever again be completely free of controL Foreign exchange control, with a greater or lesser degree of bilateralism, is a product born largely of necessity. Two world wars and a major world-wide depression so distorted the pattern of world trade and investment that free markets were simply unable to achieve their "normal" automatic adjustment. Ex change control, on the other hand, has demonstrated its efficiency as a means of maintaining a semblance of order in disorganized international markets. Unfortunately, however, exchange con trol also has great possibilities for further distortion of the pat tern of world trade, for discrimination, and for economic ex ploitation - for economic effects generally considered undesirable.

The Classical economist of the 19th century, with his faith in the ultimate efficiency and equity of free, impersonal markets, would certainly be amazed and dismayed by the developments in foreign exchange markets during the last thirty-five years. With the exception of the United States no important trading nation in the world of today maintains a freely convertible currency. On the contrary, each nation maintains a more or less comprehensive system of controls over the receipts and payments which can be effected in international markets. Recent efforts to reduce the extent and rigor of exchange regu lation, notably in Western Europe, have yielded modest results; it seems unlikely, however, that foreign exchange transactions will ever again be completely free of controL Foreign exchange control, with a greater or lesser degree of bilateralism, is a product born largely of necessity. Two world wars and a major world-wide depression so distorted the pattern of world trade and investment that free markets were simply unable to achieve their "normal" automatic adjustment. Ex change control, on the other hand, has demonstrated its efficiency as a means of maintaining a semblance of order in disorganized international markets. Unfortunately, however, exchange con trol also has great possibilities for further distortion of the pat tern of world trade, for discrimination, and for economic ex ploitation - for economic effects generally considered undesirable.

This is the first book to focus on the theoretical and practical issues of export control. It combines the points of view of Japanese and French academics and practitioners, including personnel at several governmental institutions and private companies. Presenting the results of a collaboration between Japanese and French academics, it contributes to the development of a new debate on export control. Although export control has been discussed within the framework of international law in terms of peace and security, its scope has now been expanded to international economic law (i.e., WTO law and international investment law). This means that in order to discuss export control appropriately, the two areas of law have to be combined. At the same time, this topic is not only academic and theoretical but touches upon very real and practical aspects of trade, export, and foreign investment. When we tighten embargos and economic sanctions for anti-terrorism or anti-nuclearization purposes, we encounter more and more cases of conflict between security and the liberalization of economic relations in the world. For this reason, a wide range of collaborative work is needed in this area. This timely book addresses various aspects of the current export control debate.