Lowering Of Tariffs Research Articles

Repurposing agricultural support policies for shared prosperity in rural Fiji

AbstractNotwithstanding the increasing place of tourism exports, the rural sector and its agricultural production remain important contributors to Fijiʼs economy. But their contribution is compromised by policies and institutions that distort the farm sectorʼs resource use, with too many resources employed by sugar and livestock producers at the expense of other farmers and producers of non‐farm products. Subsidies to the sugar industry could be used instead to boost investment in rural public goods such as infrastructure and agricultural research. That would benefit a much larger proportion of rural people, many of whom are below the poverty line. So too would a lowering of tariffs on imports of meat and milk products. And by thereby lowering food prices in urban areas, such re‐purposing of support would benefit their poorest households most. It would also lower the prices of high‐protein livestock products and nutrient‐rich fruits and vegetables, which could well improve nutrition and health.

The GSP+ and Exports of Pakistan to the European Union

The European Union (EU) introduced a scheme known as GSP+ (Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus) for importing products from developing countries, effective from January 2014, with lowering of tariffs substantially. The GSP+ is termed as a ‘special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance.’ There are currently eight GSP+ beneficiary countries: Armenia, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. This study is focused on the exports of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines to the European Union. In addition, the impact of GSP+ on the trade of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Philippines. Descriptive statistics and regression analyses have been performed to identify the impact of GSP+. For regression analyses, data for the period 2008-2019, i.e., six years before the GSP+ (2008-2013) and six years after the GSP+ (2014-2019) has been studied. The result shows that Pakistan is the most beneficiary of the GSP+ as compared to Sri Lanka and the Philippines. It has also been noticed that the exports of Pakistan have shifted from Asia and Africa to the EU in the wake of the GSP+.

Confirming the status quo: the political economy of EU-ACP economic partnership agreements

ABSTRACT This paper examines how the European Union's good governance initiatives under its sustainable development agenda affect ratification of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries. The theoretical framework argues that the likelihood of ratification is influenced by adjustment costs a signatory faces in implementing EPA provisions. We focus on the level of corruption as indicative of adjustment costs. In partner countries where corruption is high, EPAs that stipulate the lowering of tariffs and improved sustainability standards would clash with the interests of ACP elites and result in hefty adjustment costs. Empirical analysis of 78 ACP countries supports this argument. Results show that the likelihood of EPA ratification is lower in ACP countries with high levels of corruption. They support prevailing theories of self-selection into international agreements, where a given signatory is more likely to ratify agreements close to its institutional status quo.

Trade liberalization and productivity of Indian manufacturing firms

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of India’s trade liberalization during the late 1990s and 2000s on productivity of manufacturing firms and verify whether the productivity-enhancing impact of reductions in input tariffs was greater than that of output tariff cuts, as found in some earlier studies.Design/methodology/approachFirm-level (company-level) data drawn from Prowess database are used for the estimation of total factor productivity (TFP) at the firm level, done by using the Levinsohn–Petrin methodology. Econometric models are estimated to explain firm-level TFP. The explanatory variables used are output and input tariff rates and quantitative restrictions on imports at the industry level and firm characteristics such as firm size, export intensity and import intensity. Firm-level panel data for 2002-2010 or for a longer period 1998-2010 are used for the estimation of econometric models. Model estimation is done by applying the fixed-effects model and IV-2SLS, 3SLS estimators and EC2SLS estimators.FindingsTrade liberalization had a significant positive effect on the productivity of Indian manufacturing firms. The lowering of output tariff had a greater beneficial impact on TFP of Indian manufacturing firms than the lowering of tariff on intermediate inputs.Originality/valueGood deal of care has been taken in the measurement of output and inputs for the purpose of TFP measurement. Two alternative frameworks, gross output and value added, are used. This helps in making a better estimate of the impact of trade liberalization on TFP.

Varieties of Legitimacy at the World Trade Organization

As the international trading system expanded considerably in recent decades, the World Trade Organization (WTO) played a controversial role in reconfiguring people’s relationships to consumer goods and business services. There has been considerable opposition from the losers in the free trade system and attendant challenges to the legitimacy of the WTO. As the preeminent organization in charge of managing tensions associated with the phenomenon and institution of free trade, the WTO thus found itself responding to more diverse constituents and than in the past and drawing on outside experts when ruling on issues of scientific and economic uncertainty. This chapter analyzes how the WTO has sought legitimacy for itself and for the underlying institution of free trade in the midst of questions regarding its organizational mandate and management of international trade negotiations. Initially, legitimacy was claimed to derive from an expanding membership and the lowering of tariffs in progressively more categories of goods and services. More recently, legitimacy comes from institutional deepening by means of dispute resolution procedures and rulings by the dispute settlement body. This shift, it is argued, raises foundational questions of expertise, the relationship of models to real-world outcomes, and methods for bounding disputes over scientific facts. Based on a trend analysis of over 400 total WTO disputes and a case study of the Brazil – Upland Cotton Dispute, this chapter finds that the WTO dispute process is helping to legitimize the institution of free trade through a public display of rational authority and neutral expertise. At the same time, dispute panels have begun to pass judgment on issues of scientific and econometric uncertainty. As a result, the basis for the broader legitimacy of the WTO is shifting from questions of representation that have long drawn attention to epistemic issues, especially concerning the design of econometric models. This chapter thus offers insights on the resolution of disputes in global trade while also contributing more generally to our understanding of the evolving role of expertise and econometric modeling at international organizations.

Indo-Australian Trade Links and the Income Tax Hurdles

Of late, there is a significant awareness of the possible improvement of the bilateral trade relations between India and Australia. Several Australian companies appear to be eager to invest in India particularly, in the key sectors, such as mining, agri-business, infrastructure and power. Yet, trade statistics indicate that the potential has not been fully realized. Despite the opening up of the Indian economy and the lowering of tariffs by Australia, India accounts for only a negligible proportion of Australia's trade. And growth of this trade has also been marginal. Among the several factors responsible for the low magnitude and slow growth of the bilateral trade, differences in the respective income tax systems could be a major one. Although several countries have been adopting policies aimed at progressively liberalizing trade and international investment, this process has stopped short of addressing the fundamental distortions which arise as a result of the inherent incompatibility of differing tax systems including the differing extent to which they rely on indirect or other forms of taxation, apart from direct taxes on business profits, as a means of raising revenue. This paper aims at a comparative analysis of income tax systems in the two countries with a view to highlight the aspects that are relevant for fostering the trade between the two countries. The paper also appraises the existing double taxation agreement between the two countries.

The EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement: Making of a "Deep" Free Trade Agreement

Korea a dynamic newly-industrialized economy, and the EU, the largest economic block have negotiated an FTA. It came in force on July 1, 2011. Before the FTA was formed, the two were important trading partners of each other. Korea has enjoyed a trade surplus in merchandise trade vis-à-vis the EU. An overwhelmingly large proportion of EU-Korea trade is in manufacturing products. The EU took has had a surplus in trade in services vis-à-vis Korea. The FTA protocol has specified lowering of tariffs and NTBs in a phased manner over a transition period. The FTA had sector-focused negations. Technological standards and environmental considerations are a part of the FTA protocol. It has a comprehensive coverage and in trade economics parlance known as a “deep” regional integration arrangement. The impact of the FTA on the two partner economies would be positive but small. The empirical analyses predictably concluded that of the two, the FTA will benefit Korean economy relatively more in terms of welfare gains, while the EU economy will only gain modestly. An important fact that will influence the welfare gains is that the magnitude of the EU trade with Korea; it is only 2 percent to 2.5 percent of total extra-EU trade. Sectoral impact of the FTA will be important for both the EU and Korea and this article elucidates which sectors will benefit more than others. To protect domestic producers and markets from sudden surge in imports, there is a provision of a bilateral safeguard clause in the FTA.

The Battle over the EU’s Proposed Humanitarian Trade Preferences for Pakistan: A Case Study in Multifaceted Protectionism

In the wake of devastating floods in Pakistan in 2010, the European Union (EU) has attempted to use trade policy to provide humanitarian assistance by the temporary lowering of tariffs on select imports from Pakistan. This Proposal, justified on humanitarian grounds, requires a World Trade Organization (WTO) waiver, which so far has not been possible, amidst developing countries' concerns regarding erosion of the value of their preferential access to the EU market. A detailed examination of the EU Proposal indicates marginal benefit to Pakistan at best, given that sensitive import-competing products were largely excluded, suggesting that protectionist interests had a hand in shaping the policy. The findings also suggest that trade policy might not be an effective means to provide humanitarian assistance.

Food Security and Agricultural Trade Liberalization

Many Sub-Saharan African countries are highly dependent on the agricultural sector for the livelihood of the population. Agriculture is source of livelihood for 64 percent of the population in the region; the sector contributes about one-fifth of total gross domestic product, and about 12 per cent of the total export earnings for the region. These countries are gifted with abundant land, labor and natural resources indicating existence of comparative advantage in the agriculture sector. With the existence of comparative advantage, one can reasonably expect the continent to be able to feed its citizens. However, food security is of particular concern to many Sub-Saharan African countries and a daily problem for large parts of the population. Many of the countries which faced recurrent food shortage for the period 1998-2002 are found in Sub-Saharan Africa.Food security of a country is affected by different factors; one of which is international trade policy. Trade policy reform resulting from the WTO negotiations involves a combination of the three pillars of the Agreement on Agriculture: tariff, domestic support measures and export subsidies. Each of these pillars have one way or another an implication on food security. Lowering of tariff in agricultural products would lead to an increase in import and declining of price of imported goods thereby enhancing food security. However, for a continent like Africa, where more than 64% of the population depends on the sector, the negative consequences could out weigh. The rules on domestic support and export subsidy also have an impact on food security in that their removal will increase the price of food in the world market there by increasing the import bills of food importing countries and decreasing the amount of food supply to food deficit countries in the form of food aid. The removal of support, however, is beneficial in the long run as it would enhance competitiveness of agricultural products from African countries. In light of the fact that trade policy plays a great role in the food security of countries, the issue deserving consideration is the effect of the WTO agricultural trade liberalization on food security and the available mechanisms for addressing the issue.The article examines the food security implications of the WTO agreement on Agriculture. It asserts that the Agreement on Agriculture favors agricultural producers of the developed countries at the cost of producers in developing countries, including Africa. The article will also address the extent to which the realization of the objectives of the Agreement on Agriculture will promote food security in food insecure African countries. Accordingly, the next section will define food security and look into the state of food (in)security in Sub-Saharan African countries as well as the causes for food insecurity. The third chapter touches upon the three pillars of the AoA and their implementation and will also discuss their relationship with food security. The fourth section will highlight the state of affairs in the current negotiation and indicate the reforms necessary to be undertaken under the current round of negotiation which aims towards enhancing food security in the region. The paper will finalize by making some concluding remarks.Presented at the SIEL 2010 Conference in Barcelona.

TRADE LIBERALIZATION AND PRICE-COST MARGIN IN INDIAN INDUSTRIES

Using panel data for 137 three-digit industries for 1980/81 to 1997/98, the paper examines the effect of trade liberalization on price-cost margins in Indian industries. An econometric model is estimated to explain variations in price-cost margins, taking tariff and nontariff barriers among the explanatory variables. The results indicate that the lowering of tariffs and removal of quantitative restrictions on imports of manufactures in the 1990s had a significant pro-competitive effect on Indian industries, particularly concentrated industries, tending to reduce the price-cost margins. The paper notes that despite the pro-competitive effects of trade liberalization reinforced by domestic industrial deregulation, the price-cost margin increased in the post-reform period in most industries and aggregate manufacturing, which is attributed to a marked fall in the growth rate of real wages and a significant reduction in labor's income share in value added in the post-reform period, reflecting perhaps a weakening of industrial labor's bargaining power.

Child and family safety device affordability by country income level: an 18 country comparison

Objective: To compare availability, urban price, and affordability of child/family safety devices between 18 economically diverse countries. Design: Descriptive: urban price surveys by local safety organisations or shoppers. Setting: Retail...

Mass Market Entry of Wireless Telecommunications

Although cellular wireless telecommunication is now available worldwide, it still constitutes only a small percentage of overall telecommunications traffic. Even in advanced countries such as the US, in comparison to wireline, at year-end ’96, wireless service still remained somewhat elitist with no more than 16 percent of the population having cellular phones and — more tellingly — less than three percent of the total call traffic volume being carried by these phones. As various national governments make new spectrum available for wireless PCS service, and existing cellular service transforms itself into PCS, the public is demanding ubiquitous, affordable, high-quality wireless service. PCS will be defined not only by its new digital technology or advanced service capabilities, but also by its universal affordability. This paper describes some of the strategies new PCS service-providers are adopting to meet this challenge. While the penetration of wireless telecommunication in any market depends on such factors as terminal cost, per-capita income, quality of service, and cultural preferences, a major driver for achieving the goal of ubiquitous service is pricing. We analyze the trends in the US and Israel markets using principles of marketing science to illustrate this point. At year-end 1996, in the US, wireless cost 17 times more than wireline service. Using the theory of diffusion of consumer durables, we project that, at this price, the potential for wireless in US is only 93 million subscribers (34 percent penetration, 52 percent relative to wireline teledensity), around 90 minutes of use (MoU) (5 percent relative to wireline) and $49 revenue per subscriber per month. In contrast, in Israel, the new PCS operator Cellcom has introduced wireless service at only three times the cost of wireline. Our analysis of the Israel data indicates that, with this revolutionary pricing strategy, Israel can reach a wireless penetration of 100 percent relative to wireline teledensity, and an average subscriber usage of 60 percent relative to wireline. Based on the Israel experience, we infer that, in the US market, a similar pricing strategy will yield 180 million subscribers, 600 MoU and $54 revenue per subscriber per month. While a lower price would help PCS realize the goal of ubiquitous service, it would also result in a highly competitive, low-revenue per-minute-of-use environment for the operator. So to succeed in such an environment, operators such as Cellcom are restructuring their businesses in fundamental ways. As revenue per-MoU falls, operators must make similar reductions in expenditure on marketing, network infrastructure and operations. In the rest of the paper, we discuss changes in traffic patterns, new marketing strategies, wireless digital technologies, advanced planning techniques, and innovative network management systems that are some of the key enablers of this transformation. In 1997, several new PCS operators have entered the market in the US, causing a lowering of tariffs, but there is yet no indication of as dramatic a reduction as experienced in Israel. In this paper, we also describe the pricing strategies currently being employed by US PCS operators and the impact they have had on subscriber penetration thus far.

An Empirical Analysis of the Political Economy of Tariffs

We seek to analyze the determinants of senatorial response to “generic” trade bills that seek to impose restrictions on the lowering of tariffs. The analysis is based on the response of senators to the trade expansion acts of 1962 and 1974. In the recent past these have been the only bills that are “generic” in nature since they are not targeted at any particular industry. Within the same framework we also examine the issue of “legislator shirking”, a term used to imply the response of senators based on pure personal ideology rather than the interests of the constituents. Regression results show the growing influence of state specific factors and the diminishing role of party and personal ideology on senatorial response. Interestingly, we find that despite the similar generic nature of the two bills examined, the influence of personal ideology on the response of senators varies across the two bills examined.

Sizes of Firms, Exporting Behavior, and the Structure of French Industry

THE lowering of tariffs among the European Community (EC) countries in the I96os provides a splendid laboratory experiment on the relation between international trade and industrial organization. It allows tests of many hypotheses about the effects on market structure and performance of the liberalization of trade, but also of the differential effects of liberalized trade (intra-EC) and trade subject to conventional import controls (between EC and the rest of the world). In this paper we examine one of these relations, that between the sizes of French firms and their exporting activity. This relation is observed at only one point in timeI 963-but fortuitously a point when intra-EEC tariff reductions were fully under way. For few countries has the relation between firm size and exports received much attention. Interesting by itself, it also illuminates other important relations between trade and industrial structure.

A Note on Tariffs, Nontariff Barriers, and Labor Protection in United States Manufacturing Industries

Previous articleNext article No AccessCommunicationsA Note on Tariffs, Nontariff Barriers, and Labor Protection in United States Manufacturing IndustriesJohn H. ChehJohn H. Cheh Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Political Economy Volume 84, Number 2Apr., 1976 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/260442 Views: 4Total views on this site Citations: 15Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1976 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:HYEJOON IM NOT ALL GOODS ARE CREATED EQUAL: TARIFF CONCESSIONS IN THE KOREA–CHINA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT, The Singapore Economic Review 66, no.0505 (Nov 2017): 1205–1219.https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217590817500187Sunitha Raju, Bibek Ray Chaudhuri, Mridula S. Mishra Trade Liberalization and Employment Effects in Indian Manufacturing: An Empirical Assessment, SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2016).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3164440Nakgyoon Choi Determinants of Staging Categories for Tariff Elimination in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Negotiations of Free Trade Agreements, Asian Economic Papers 10, no.22 (Jun 2011): 1–17.https://doi.org/10.1162/ASEP_a_00070Nakgyoon Choi Determinants of Staging Categories for the Tariff Elimination in the FTA Negotiations, SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2009).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2955467Wendy L. Hansen The International Trade Commission and the Politics of Protectionism, American Political Science Review 84, no.11 (Aug 2014): 21–46.https://doi.org/10.2307/1963628 References, (Jan 1983): 189–203.https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-438740-9.50013-7Theodore Hitiris Protection, concentration and labour intensity: Reply, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv 117, no.22 (Jun 1981): 383–384.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02696759James C. Hartigan The U.S. tariff and comparative advantage: A survey of method, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv 117, no.11 (Mar 1981): 65–109.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02696578André Blais, Philippe Faucher La politique industrielle dans les économies capitalistes avancées, Canadian Journal of Political Science 14, no.11 (Nov 2009): 3–35.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008423900035332 Edward John Ray The Determinants of Tariff and Nontariff Trade Restrictions in the United States, Journal of Political Economy 89, no.11 (Oct 2015): 105–121.https://doi.org/10.1086/260952 Don P. Clark The Protection of Unskilled Labor in the United States Manufacturing Industries: Further Evidence, Journal of Political Economy 88, no.66 (Oct 2015): 1249–1254.https://doi.org/10.1086/260940 Selected Bibliography, (Jan 1979): 99–141.https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-024644-4.50013-9Jaleel Ahmad Diversion et création d’échanges commerciaux dans le cadre du système canadien de préférences tarifaires, L'Actualité économique 55, no.11 (Jun 2009): 68–81.https://doi.org/10.7202/800814ar Joe A. Stone A Comment on Tariffs, Nontariff Barriers, and Labor Protection in United States Manufacturing Industries, Journal of Political Economy 86, no.55 (Oct 2015): 959–962.https://doi.org/10.1086/260721James Riedel Tariff concessions in the Kennedy Round and the structure of protection in West Germany, Journal of International Economics 7, no.22 (May 1977): 133–143.https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1996(77)90026-5

Territoriality of Trademark Rights

Can the registered owner of a trademark object to the use of his mark on goods on which the same trademark has been legally affixed abroad, but which have been imported into this country without his consent and against his wishes through what may be termed “irregular channels”, i.e., not through the agent, licensee or subsidiary of the trademark proprietor?This question of apparently minor importance has lately come to the forefront of interest in professional circles. The intensification of international trade since the end of World War II, the lowering of tariffs, the creation of supra-national economic units such as EEC and EFTA, and the growing number of international firms and concerns with the consequent establishment of sales organizations abroad have brought this question in different sets of circumstances before the courts of many countries. Their decisions have been widely divergent, from country to country, and sometimes even within the same country; many of them have been attacked in textbooks and legal periodicals; their reasoning, even where the results have been accepted, has been criticized and new doctrines have been proposed. In 1967, the International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property (AIPPI), with a view to unifying trademark law, initiated an extensive study of this question, but has so far failed to arrive at a generally acceptable solution.

Using the Free Market to Resolve the Balance of Payments Problem

ISCUSSIONS of U. S. policy with respect to international payments tend to be dominated by our immediate balance of payments difficulties. I should like today to approach the question from a different, and I hope more constructive, direction. Let us begin by asking ourselves not merely how we can get out of our present difficulties but instead how we can fashion our international payments system so that it will best serve our needs for the long pull; how we can solve not merely this balance of payments problem but the balance of payments problem. A shocking, and indeed, disgraceful feature of the present situation is the extent to which our frantic search for expedients to stave off balance of payments pressures has led us, on the one hand, to sacrifice major national objectives; and, on the other, to give enormous power to officials of foreign governments to affect what should be purely domestic matters. Foreign payments amount to only some 5 % of our total national income. Yet they have become a major factor in nearly every national policy. I believe that a system of floating exchange rates would solve the balance of payments problem for the United States far more effectively than our present arrangements. Such a system would use the flexibility and efficiency of the free market to harmonize our small foreign trade sector with both the rest of our massive economy and the rest of the world; it would reduce problems of foreign payments to their proper dimensions and remove them as a major consideration in governmental policy about domestic matters and as a major preoccupation in international political negotiations; it would foster our national objectives rather than be an obstacle to their attainment. To indicate the basis for this conclusion, let us consider the national objective with which our payments system is most directly connected: the promotion of a healthy and balanced growth of world trade, carried on, so far as possible, by private individuals and private enterprises with minimum intervention by governments. This has been a major objective of our whole postwar international economic policy, most recently expressed in the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Success would knit the free world more closely together, and, by fostering the international division of labor, raise standards of living throughout the world, including the United States. Suppose that we succeed in negotiating far-reaching reciprocal reductions in tariffs and other trade barriers with the common market and other countries.' Such reductions will expand trade in general but clearly will have different effects on different industries. The demand for the products of some will expand, for others contract. This is a phenomenon we are familiar with from our internal development. The capacity of our free enterprise system to adapt quickly and efficiently to such shifts, whether produced by changes in technology or tastes, has been a major source of our economic growth. The only additional element introduced by international trade is the fact that different currencies are involved, and this is where the payment mechanism comes in; its function is to keep this fact from being an additional source of disturbance. An all around lowering of tariffs would tend to increase both our expenditures and our receipts in foreign currencies. There is no way of knowing in advance which increase would tend to be the greater and hence no way of knowing whether the initial effect would be toward a surplus or deficit in our balance of payments. What is clear is that we cannot hope to succeed in the objective of expanding world trade unless we can readily adjust to either outcome.2 Suppose then that the initial effect is to increase our expenditures on imports more than our receipts from exports. How could we adjust to this outcome? One method of adjustment is to draw on reserves or borrow from abroad to finance the excess increase in imports. The obvious objection to this method is that it is only a temporary device, and hence can be relied on only when the disturbance is temporary. But that is not the major objection. Even if we had very large reserves or could borrow large amounts from abroad, so that we could continue this expedient for many years, it is a most undesirable one. We can see why if we look at physical rather than financial magnitudes. The physical counterpart to the financial deficit is a reduction of employment in industries competing with imports that is larger than the concurrent expansion of employment in export industries. So long as the financial deficit continues, the assumed tariff reductions Milton Friedman, one of the country's foremost economists, is Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago. 1. Footnotes appear at end of article.

Air Raid Precautions and Air Disarmament

A PAMPHLET entitled “Defence that is no Defence”, by Dr. C. E. M. Joad, issued by the National Peace Council, directing attention to the inadequacy of the Government proposals for defence against air raids and the impossibility of devising any adequate protection against simultaneous attack by gas, explosive and incendiary bombs, quotes the warning against this barbarous perversion of science and industry in the tendency to accept the use of aircraft for unrestricted bomb and gas attack on civilized populations uttered by leading scientific workers when the Government schemes were first introduced. Subsequent events have only confirmed the prediction that acceptance of this position must rapidly lead to the breakdown of civilized life. Dr. Joad, while emphasizing the futility of the measures so far proposed by the Government and also the difficulty of its position, urges that the Government should work strenuously for abolition of the bombing aeroplane and for disarming in the air and placing civil aviation on an international basis, as affording the only security against destruction of our cities by attack from the air. He also urges a policy directed towards the removal of economic tensions which are endangering peace, and suggests a definite lead from Great Britain in regard to access to raw materials and equalizing of opportunities for trade which might be provided by an extension of the mandates system, the lowering of tariffs and removal of economic barriers.