Some economies sell and buy abroad far more than others, measured against what they produce. Does trade bind peoples together, enrich them, expose them, or leave some of them behind?
The picture
What the numbers show, read from the Data library each time the page opens.
How to read the chart above, and the words it uses.
How to read the data
The figure adds exports and imports and compares them with a year’s output, so it can pass a hundred. Small economies trade more as a share of output than large ones, so a high figure is not a sign of strength or weakness.
Key terms
Exports
Goods and services sold to other countries.
Imports
Goods and services bought from other countries.
Openness
How large a part of an economy’s output crosses its borders.
Who has a stake
Each interest, then readings from the Catholic library and the Classics library that bear on it, oldest first. Choose a group to read.
Wider markets for what they make or grow, fair dealing with buyers, and a lawful gain for their work and their risk.
Goods that cost less and are better, a wider choice, and honest dealing in what they are sold.
A place in the market on fair terms, prices for their goods that can support their people, and the means to build industries of their own.
Jobs and trades that sustain a town, skills handed on, and time to adjust when a change in distant markets removes a livelihood.
Peace and knowledge of one another, and interdependence that binds peoples together and does not leave one to dominate another.
For discussion
What makes a price or a trading rule fair when one partner is much richer and stronger than the other?
How should the gains of consumers who buy cheaper goods be weighed against the losses of communities whose work is displaced?
Does trade bind peoples in peace or make some dependent on others, and what would make it do the first?
