A Vision for the World Economy: Openness, Diversity, and Cohesion

As the twentieth century comes to a close, technological changes, corporate strategies, and international market pressures are undermining the traditional separation between the domains of international and domestic policy. Indeed almost every aspect of domestic policy has international ramifications. The challenge to international governance holds both perils and promise. Attempts to reassert national autonomy or to rely exclusively on competition to resolve international tension could fragment the global economy, producing inferior outcomes for all or most nations. But the promise lies in the possibility of creating a global community able to balance the objectives of openness, diversity, and cohesion. In this capstone volume to the Brookings project on Integrating National Economies - a pathbreaking series of books on the future of economic integration - the authors present a new vision to guide international policy. They stress openness to improve competition and discourage opportunistic trade and industrial policies; diversity to accommodate varying national conditions and preferences and allow for innovation and experimentation; and cohesion or trust among nations in one another's institutions and in international institutions to support increased openness. Although the lowering of barriers on goods and investments since World War II has contributed to unprecedented growth and prosperity, recent developments are forcing nations to look beyond the reduction of at-the-border trade barriers. The authors explore the strengths and weaknesses of alternative ways of dealing with these developments and consider a new model of international governance. They offer a blueprint for a world ofclubs in which the nation remains a fundamental political unit but joins with other nations in pursuing common objectives. They contend that these clubs - functional, regional, and global - are necessary for a world of deeper integration.