The Trade in Data as Business

The trade in data has in the recent past become a booming business considering the fact that it runs unregulated and it is done without the consent of the victims. Data brokers are exposed to ethical dilemma as the practice has both positive and negative impacts on the society. Leaked data can cause damage as much as it can be helpful. In case where text massages are leaked in a family setup, in as much as this can help to confront cheating spouses, it can as well cause divorce and separation resulting into great harm on the children (EPI, 2009).

Proliferation of data brokers have provided an easy way of damping data hence making it extra difficult to retrieve information from an organization involved in this kind of business (EPI, 2009). The loss of data results to greater harm in the event of a legal pursuit on an organization. Loss of data is equally loss of evidence on the companys past activities. Huge amounts of data in the data storage facilities where companies sell their data causes slow networks due to the congested traffic while users try to retrieve information they require.

The United States government should regulate private data brokers first of all to protect the valued privacy of the victims. Government involvement will with no doubt help govern and monitor the use of this information hence legal utilization of information will take effect (EPI, 2009). The advantages will be to the victims who by liberal operations of the market risk exposing confidential information. The disadvantage however with government involvement is the fact that the government will introduce a licensing fee that may probably scare away brokers and lead to a shortage that may adversely affect many businesses. The data provided in the U.S.A data web site is very reliable and in most cases it assists the private investigators, law enforcement agencies and spouses who are disappointed in their marriages who are interested in finding the truth about their failing marriage.

USA data offers restrictive and limited access of its data to customers visiting the site to retrieve information. This comes after an agreement from the customer to the terms and conditions of the company (EPI, 2009). One of the terms and condition include a payment required to access information in the site. By ordering a mailing list online the type of information found includes consumer list , business list, occupants list, new home owners list, new movers list, physicians list, and specialty lists including technological solutions. USA data provides personalized customer services and an easy ordering system that requires no subscription.

The information offered is of ascertained precision and provides access to information from any types of sources(EPI, 2009). The information found in USA data can give a leak to discreet information like how much one earns hence raising privacy concerns. The disclosure of how much money a person earns is a breach to personal privacy contracts that many organizations sign to while hiring employees. If my name and other personal information where in the database, limitations I would wish to maintain private would be any information that touches on my personal private life. Information on my family background and social status would top the list of concern. My financial statements in this case would also be on the list of items I would rather maintain private.

Reference

Electronic Privacy Information Center, (2009). Focusing public attention on emerging privacy and civil liberties issues. Web.

Neural Networks and Stocks Trading

Introduction

An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is a system that is based on how biological neural works, such as a brain, and the idea is transferred to information processing. That is, emulating how a neural system works. It is made up of many interconnected processing elements called neurons that are combined to solve a given problem. It tries to solve a problem from an example as people do. In each application, ANN has to be configured to be able to solve it.

How it works

ANN works with an example as human beings do. It does not work like a computer that follows a step-by-step procedure, but an example is identified which fits with the problem to be solved; otherwise, time will be wasted, or an incorrect solution will come out. The biggest disadvantage of an ANN is that how it works cannot be predicted because no procedure is followed. The input data comes from either the original data or out of another neuron. The signal is then taken to an activation function to produce an output. By using the activation function, an output of zero shows the input is less than zero, while an output of one shows the input is more than or is equal to zero. According to Ripley (1996), & subtracting the threshold from the weighted sum and comparing with zero is equivalent to comparing the weighted sum to the threshold&weights can be negative, which implies that the synapse has an inhibitory rather than excitatory effect on the neuron: inhibitory neurons are found in the brain.

The activation function is the most used method in ANN. The neurons are interconnected to get the input to transfer them to processing and then show the output. The input and output correspond to the eyes, hands of a human being, and the processing part is the brain which plays an internal role in the network. All three that is, input, hidden, and output, work together where the signal flows. The figure below shows a topology of how to input, hidden, and output is interconnected.

Haykin
From: Haykin, 1994 (p. 109)

According to Haykin (1994), & the input variable values are placed in the input units, and then the hidden and output layer units are progressively executed. Each of them calculates its activation value by taking the weighted sum of the outputs of the units in the preceding layer and subtracting the threshold. The activation value is passed through the activation function to produce the output of the neuron. When the entire network has been executed, the outputs of the output layer act as the output of the entire network.

Type of problem solved

As noted by Carling (1992), the type of problem solved by ANN is not like for conventional computers that use algorithmic method, but it is unstructured. In this case, the problem is not understood, and there is no idea of how to solve it, and therefore no program can be developed to solve the problem. Hence, those problems are taken care of by Artificial Neural networks. To make ANN results more efficient, conventional computers are used for supervision.

Case study

Companies that use ANN include Insurance companies, banks, stock markets, among other institutions. The companies use ANN because they have some information and want to predict some unknown information. They use it for stock market prediction where the previous information is known and is used to determine future prices. ANN is also used also for credit assignment where information of the applicant is used to determine the risk on loan as bad or good.

Many institutions use it, and results do not differ from actual results unless there is no understanding of the problem. As stated by Ripley (1996), Many financial institutions use or have experimented with, neural networks for stock market prediction, so it is likely that any trends predictable by neural techniques are already discounted by the market, and (unfortunately), unless you have a sophisticated understanding of that problem domain, you are unlikely to have any success there either!

To avoid embarrassment, a neural network must be worked out in order to allow inputs and produce a real set of outputs. The best way is to use the knowledge of neural to know its strength by setting weights. Another method is to train it by inputting some values according to its pattern and allowing changes of its weight from its rules.

Future of Neural Networks

This is just the beginning of its application in financial institutions. It is predicted that more development is yet to take place due to its ability to use technology in the market. As stated by Patterson (1996), They are flexible, easy to integrate into a system, adapt to the data and can classify it in numerous fashions under extreme conditions. Therefore, to make it faster and efficient, hardware is being developed.

Benefits of using neural networks

Some of the benefits of using neural networks in stock trading and investments

Include:

  • neural networks require less training in formal statistics.
  • one is able to wholly identify complex nonlinear relationships between independent and dependent variables.
  • neural networks have the ability to detect all possible interactions between predictor variables,
  • It has the ability to produce multiples in training algorithms. (Gurney, 2003).

Drawbacks and Limitations

  • Neural Networks system can be very hard to use.
  • One has to fill the programs with settings where a minor error will translate to similar errors in the predictions.
  • It can be extremely hard to interpret results.
  • It becomes impossible to operate and analyze large neural networks due to the number of variables involved.
  • It is always impossible to comprehend a neural networks thinking even after generating a correct answer.
  • Further research is needed before neural systems acceptance in the industry. (Gurney, 2003).

Artificial Neural Networks is a more complicated way of solving problems because there are no procedures to follow, and hence not possible to know if the results are correct or wrong. When working with it, the user is required to be keen when inputting values to avoid getting wrong outputs. Also, it doesnt mean that the results obtained are 100 percent correct because of other factors that might not be provided for. Lastly, neural networks will be more efficient when integrated with conventional computing.

References

Carling, A. 1992, Introducing Neural Networks. Wilmslow, UK: Sigma Press.

Gurney, K. 2003, An Introduction to Neural Networks. London: CRC Press.

Haykin, S. 1994, Neural Networks: A Comprehensive Foundation. New York: Macmillan Publishing.

Patterson, D. 1996, Artificial Neural Networks. Singapore: Prentice Hall.

Ripley, B.D. 1996, Pattern Recognition and Neural Networks. London: Cambridge University Press.

The Trade in Data as Business

The trade in data has in the recent past become a booming business considering the fact that it runs unregulated and it is done without the consent of the victims. Data brokers are exposed to ethical dilemma as the practice has both positive and negative impacts on the society. Leaked data can cause damage as much as it can be helpful. In case where text massages are leaked in a family setup, in as much as this can help to confront cheating spouses, it can as well cause divorce and separation resulting into great harm on the children (EPI, 2009).

Proliferation of data brokers have provided an easy way of damping data hence making it extra difficult to retrieve information from an organization involved in this kind of business (EPI, 2009). The loss of data results to greater harm in the event of a legal pursuit on an organization. Loss of data is equally loss of evidence on the companys past activities. Huge amounts of data in the data storage facilities where companies sell their data causes slow networks due to the congested traffic while users try to retrieve information they require.

The United States government should regulate private data brokers first of all to protect the valued privacy of the victims. Government involvement will with no doubt help govern and monitor the use of this information hence legal utilization of information will take effect (EPI, 2009). The advantages will be to the victims who by liberal operations of the market risk exposing confidential information. The disadvantage however with government involvement is the fact that the government will introduce a licensing fee that may probably scare away brokers and lead to a shortage that may adversely affect many businesses. The data provided in the U.S.A data web site is very reliable and in most cases it assists the private investigators, law enforcement agencies and spouses who are disappointed in their marriages who are interested in finding the truth about their failing marriage.

USA data offers restrictive and limited access of its data to customers visiting the site to retrieve information. This comes after an agreement from the customer to the terms and conditions of the company (EPI, 2009). One of the terms and condition include a payment required to access information in the site. By ordering a mailing list online the type of information found includes consumer list , business list, occupants list, new home owners list, new movers list, physicians list, and specialty lists including technological solutions. USA data provides personalized customer services and an easy ordering system that requires no subscription.

The information offered is of ascertained precision and provides access to information from any types of sources(EPI, 2009). The information found in USA data can give a leak to discreet information like how much one earns hence raising privacy concerns. The disclosure of how much money a person earns is a breach to personal privacy contracts that many organizations sign to while hiring employees. If my name and other personal information where in the database, limitations I would wish to maintain private would be any information that touches on my personal private life. Information on my family background and social status would top the list of concern. My financial statements in this case would also be on the list of items I would rather maintain private.

Reference

Electronic Privacy Information Center, (2009). Focusing public attention on emerging privacy and civil liberties issues. Web.

Risk Analysis of Tracking Adults at Trade Shows

The trade exhibition industry market has experienced drastic changes in the last decades. Firms are now using advanced data management systems to improve the visibility of events during trade fairs to boost their growth rate and profitability. RFID allows marketers to track attendees movement and purchasing behaviors, consequently improving the fairs visibility. However, these systems pose significant data privacy and security risks. This paper presents a comprehensive risk analysis report of an event management system that uses RFID technology to improve user experiences.

Trade Shows

Trade shows provide platforms where companies and businesses within the same industry present or showcase their products to consumers. Organizations can use trade fairs to communicate with actual or potential customers and establish business relationships. Attendees visit the designated location to view the expositions or exhibits made by multiple exhibitors. Some trade shows limit the attendees to industry professionals, while others allow the general public to attend.

Type of Private Information Collected during the Expo

Marketers can use RFID to collect information on:

  • Attendees movements and interactions
  • Credit card information
  • Attendees motives
  • Social media profile/ID cards
  • Event information

Maintaining tangible return on investments (ROI) is extremely challenging due to the invisibility of what is happening during the event. Hundreds of attendees can walk in and out of the booths at any given time, making it difficult to determine the events actual market value. However, data management tools such as RFID have helped businesses accurately identify the total number of attendees during the trade show (RFID At trade shows, n.d.). RFID collects data such as the volume of traffic on each floor, which activities attendees participated in, and the type of event activities conducted during each event. The information increases event visibility or establishes trends used to evaluate the trade shows marketing value and accurately measure and improve their ROI.

Attendees Movements and Interactions

Recent technological advances currently facilitate the use of overhead readers to capture attendees movement, generating data on floor traffic patterns. These readers promote accurate data collection of more than 150 people per minute in each aisle. The overhead readers eliminate the need for physical scanning of attendees badges or tags. They use ultrahigh-frequency signals to read the serial number of the RFID tag worn by an attendee (Kasiri, 2021). Other event organizers install RFID devices on session/booth doors, generating real-time data. The data collected from the booths include the number of people who attended an event or visited a booth, the type of booths/sessions each attendee went to, and the period spent in these sessions.

This attendance data can help organizers determine which events were popular during the trade show.

Attendees Motives

RFID, embedded with tags, electronic identifiers, and reader devices, generates spatial and temporal data to create customer profiles and understand their nature through studying purchasing behaviors. Attendees come to trade shows with different motives, some with buying intentions, while others with non-buying intentions (Beqqal & Azizi, 2017). Attendees with buying objectives will place orders or request product information from suppliers. Those with non-buying intentions collect competitive intelligence, conduct professional networking, and browse. RFID can help marketers isolate and cluster these attendees to identify lead customers.

Credit Card Information

Lead capture refers to collecting information about attendees who could potentially become actual customers. Purchasing behaviors related to serious intent include the amount of time spend at a booth, purchase or inquiry for product information, interaction types, type of booths visited, and the total number of booths visited during the show (Beqqal & Azizi, 2017). Credit card information is stored when the consumer makes an actual purchase. The RFID collects this data every time an attendee swipes the tag, makes a purchase, or when they enter or leave a floor/booth. Marketers can align these characteristics to identify customers they might target or attract.

Social Media Profile/ID Cards

The RFID is also used to collect data that can predict macro trends within the market, such as a spike in a new products demand. It can also be used for social networking. Attendees can be prompted to swipe the RFID badges to like the organizers session on Facebook. The RFID will save the users profiles once they log in. Organizers sometimes also use the RFID badges to offer giveaways- attendees can swipe their tags, and then random badges are awarded gifts. The attendees will then be prompted to collect the gift from the sponsoring firms booth, which will require ID submission.

Compliance Issues

The first compliance issue refers to tracking a customers location without their consent. When customers own the RFID bands or own products with RFID tags, their location and addresses can be identified and recorded without their knowledge (Afolabi et al., 2015). Data privacy provides consumers with the right not to be observed without consent. Therefore, tracking consumer movement across the floor without their knowledge is a violation. The second compliance issue relates to exposing a persons credit card information or transaction history without their knowledge (Khan et al., 2017). The law requires all entities to protect the financial information of their consumers. However, when a consumer owns an RFID tag, an active transceiver can activate a signal that will communicate with the cards payment terminal.

Another compliance issue relates to causing injury to a consumer due to a weak data security system. Credit Card Not Present (CCNP) is a form of impersonation involving using a consumers credit card without actually using the physical card (Khan et al., 2017). The law mandates businesses that collect and use consumer data to protect their customers from such incidences (Darcy et al., 2016). However, when a firms security system is weak, attackers can hack the system, steal or duplicate users data, and use the data to commit fraud.

Thirdly, the law prohibits unfair business practices, including benefiting from consumers data without their consent. RFID collects information about customers preferences, hobbies, personal financial information, interests, and brand preferences without their knowledge. This information can be sold to third parties, such as online advertisers who later use the data to improve their advertisement targeting techniques.

Another compliance issue relates to informing consumers on the presence of RFID on purchased products. The law requires all consumers to be notified when an RFID tag is present on a product and when the tag collects user information. Failure to inform consumers of these issues can result in legal in-compliance (Ahson & Ilyas, 2017). The last compliance issue is related to data custodianship or data disclosure practices. Given the nature of trade shows, it is inevitable for data to be shared among different partners or collaborators. However, the data-sharing practices pose significant data security risks, especially when one affiliates security system is weak. The law mandates organizations to protect consumers data during storage and transfer.

Privacy and Security Issues

An RFID system uses tags to collect user data, transmits the information to the backend server, and finally, a network canal that manages communication. The common RFID attacks include Denial of Service (DoS), eavesdropping, cloning, tracking, and injection. A firms infrastructure that depends on RFID becomes vulnerable to denial-of-service risks through radio frequency signal jamming. Attackers can destroy tags or attack backend infrastructure.

Denial of Service (DoS): Attackers can remove equipment from the RFID system, block radio signal waves, or jam the system so that a rendered service is impossible. When these interruptions occur, the communication between the reader tag and backend servers is disrupted, making service provision impossible (Beqqal & Azizi, 2017). For example, the attackers can spam a legitimate tag reader with several requests, rendering the tag out of service.

An injection attack: It happens when a malicious tag, destructive code, virus, and buffer are introduced into the companys backend system. Injection attacks can lead to severe data shrinkage and loss of data and data integrity (Beqqal & Azizi, 2017). Loss of data and data integrity will disable the prospects of trade shows coordinators estimating the real marketing value of the trade show.

Electro-Magnetic Pulses typically renders the RFID tags vulnerable to destruction. A mere discharge from a disposable camera discharge can destroy the RFID tag. If the attackers are present at the trade show, service provision will be disrupted, affecting the exhibitors prospect of reaching the goals.

Eavesdropping: Attackers can use RFID chips or spy chips to eavesdrop or read information by intercepting communication between a tag reader and the backend server (Zhao et al., 2020). The interception allows the attacker to record any exchanges between a tag reader and servers.

Cloning and ID theft: Some tags can be duplicated at a distance without the tag owners knowledge. This issue is significant considering that attendees link their credit cards to the RFID tag (Wei et al., 2015). Other information that can be stolen includes ID cards and RFID passports, presenting serious impersonation risks (Beqqal & Azizi, 2017). This attack is made possible by reverse engineering techniques that retrieve, modify, and duplicate cart properties such as secret keys.

Privacy Risks

Illicit tracking: It occurs when a tag owners location and address are accessed by unauthorized persons. Attackers can also use RFID chips or spy chips to listen to user conversations without their knowledge (Wei et al., 2015). It is also possible to collect private financial data, including the social security number, if a tagged product was paid for with a credit card or loyalty card. As long as the attackers tag reader is in range, information on an individuals movement and presence will be available to the attacker.

Legislations

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires all firms to deliver their promises to safeguard consumer data privacy and security. Section 5 prohibits any unfair and deceptive acts in the business, including using consumers data to make profits without their consent (Privacy and security enforcement, n.d.). The legislation can induce legal action against any organization that violates the privacy of its consumers. Title III of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act prohibits any intentional interception of oral or electronic communication. It states that anyone who intercepts electronic communication will be held in violation of it as if proper consent has not been obtained. It also covers civil penalties for disclosing a consumers private information (Edgar & Manz, 2017). The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) privacy guidelines mandate all businesses to disclose technical specifications and use of RFID tags (Phillips, 2018). The legislation requires all consumers to be informed of any product containing an RFID tag reader or when their information is being tracked. The business can inform the public of their intent of use through their policies and practices.

Recommendations/Best Practices

People

Marketers and event organizers need to have a unified view on how to deal with consumer data before any lead capture is acquired. Staff should be trained on data privacy to improve compliance. Disclosing to consumers data collection practices will increase their trust in a firm and willingness to share private and sensitive information (Martin & Murphy, 2016). Therefore, all event attendees should be notified of products with RFID tags and data collection intent.

Technology

If the company chooses to procure the system from third parties, it should ensure that the contract/alliance/collaboration upholds data safety practices. The following techniques can be adopted to improve the internal security system (Beqqal & Azizi, 2017):

  • Protocol Added Schemes- This technique involves integrating a new coding scheme inside the RFID tag to create specific communication protocols. This way, attackers cannot intercept communication or access network tags.
  • Tag Killing- This method involves destroying or detaching a tags content immediately after a product leaves the store. This technique will reduce privacy risks by eliminating the likelihood of attackers tracking consumers illicitly.
  • The XOR encryption- This technique counters skimming and eavesdropping using a randomized protocol method and algorithms to encrypt communication operations.
  • Blocker Tag- This technique creates an inductive field that blocks suspicious tag readers from entering the RFID system. Many tag IDs are generated to hide and shield the actual tag, making it difficult for attackers to capture the accurate tags signal.
  • Firewalls- Firewalls can protect the organizations database and RFID database, preventing data integrity loss.

Processes

The company should analyze its business operations to weigh the systems benefits and harms before implementation. The business analysis should also include documentation, policy, and best practice analysis. The company should consider access controls, surface controls (the surface where the RFID device will be attached), maintenance costs, data storage types to ensure the selected RFID tag is appropriate for the company.

Policies

It should establish and enforce data protection policies throughout the lifecycle of collected data; this includes data collection, processing, analysis, storage, and destruction. The policy should cover unlawful disclosure, data losses, storage, and sharing (Martin & Murphy, 2016). The guidelines should be periodically reviewed and updated to ensure that their practices accurately align with legal regulations.

Conclusion/Summary

RFID systems can be used for numerous reasons in trade shows, including lead capture, increasing event visibility to capture actual events marketing value. The data captured during the trade show include attendees movements and interactions, credit card information, attendees motives, social media profile/ID cards, and event information. However, these systems pose compliance issues regarding data sharing practices, failure to inform attendees on RFID tag presence, and tracking and collecting user data without their knowledge. The privacy and security risks include eavesdropping, cloning/id theft, injection (hacking), and DoS. These issues can be resolved by ramping the internal infrastructure and protocol security and aligning business practices and compliance with regulatory requirements.

References

Afolabi, A., Atayero, A. A., Ajayi, P., & Wogu, I. A. P. (2015). 2nd Covenant University Conference on African Development Issues (CU-ICADI), Africa Leadership Development Center  Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria, 1113 May. Ogun: Covenant University publishing. Web.

Ahson, S. A., & Ilyas, M. (2017). RFID handbook: Applications, technology, security, and privacy. Taylor & Francis Group.

Beqqal, M. E., & Azizi, M. (2017). 2(6), 194202. Web.

Darcy, P., Pupunwiwat, P. & Stantic, B. (2016). The challenges and issues facing the deployment of RFID technology. In Falk, E. (Ed.), Deploying RFID (pp. 126). Scitus Academics LLC.

Edgar, T. W., & Manz, D. O. (2017). Research methods for cyber security (1st ed.). Elsevier.

Freiwald, S. (2018). Berkeley Technology Law Journal, 33, 131176. Web.

Khan, M. A. A., Qureshi, A. A. S., & Farooqui, M. (2017). International Journal of Computer Sciences and Engineering, 5(5), 4246. Web.

Kasiri, N. (2021). IntechOpen. Web.

Martin, K. D., & Murphy, P. E. (2016). The role of data privacy in marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45(2), 135155. Web.

Phillips, M. (2018).Human genetics, 137, 575582. Web.

Federal Trade Commission. n.d. Web.

(n.d.). Universal RFID. Web.

Tafesse, W., & Skallerud, K. (2017). A systematic review of the trade show marketing literature: 19802014. Industrial Marketing Management, 63, 1830. Web.

Wei, C. H., Hwang, M. S., & Chin, A. Y. H. (2015). Security analysis of an enhanced mobile agent device for RFID privacy protection. IETE Technical Review, 32(3), 183187. Web.

Zhao, B. Q., Wang, H. M., & Liu, P. (2020).IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 7(12), 11587-11600. Web.

Slave Trade in America Analysis

In America, ownership of property included the right to own human beings. The introduction of slavery in America took place around 1619 when the first African landed at Point Comfort in Virginia, which was a new colony of England (Deetz, 2020). The Africans had been forcefully captured from their homes, required to board ships, and were taken to unknown lands. Most historians consider the period as the beginning of a 400-year story, which was marked by persistent inequality, a legacy of resilience, and oppression (Deetz, 2020). This essay will examine the beginning of the slave trade in America and its abolishment.

The first African group in Virginia was not the first to arrive in North America but had a great significance in changing the Atlantic world in the Colonial era. The English colonialist justified slavery as supporting the chattel system and marking an end to rebellion from their colonies. Moreover, the captives provided cheap labor and were controlled, which ensured the profit margin of the landowners increased. Laws that guaranteed private ownership of property, including human beings, were legislated in America during the Revolution Era, which ensured servitude continued (Ushistory.org, 2020). Slavery ventured to the southern colonies at the rise of the rice kingdom. The movement of Barbados, who were wealthy planters, brought slavery to the south as the migration of these farmers was accompanied by their African workers. The arrival of the black man in America had a major impact on its economy

The abolition of the slave trade began in 1787 through the American revolutionary war. Veterans were given lands in Ohio and other states, making people in the region free. The Civil War ended after the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 affirmed the liberty of all those held as slaves in all states, including the rebellious ones (A& E Television Networks, 2010). The adoption of the 13thThirteenth Amendment eliminated the existence of slavery during the ruling of Abraham Lincoln as the basic rights of the American citizens were recognized.

To conclude, Africans captured and taken to unknown lands by the Whites ended up as slaves in their plantations where they provided cheap labor and maximized profits for the landowners. The abolition of slavery in American began during the revolutionary era, which led to the Civil war and the proclamation of Emancipation. Finally, the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment during President Lincolns rule eliminated it.

References

A& E Television Networks. (2010). History. Web.

Deetz, K. F. (2019). National Geographic. Web.

Ushistory.org. (2020). U.S. History Online Textbook. Web.

Slave Trade in Africa and Europe Before and After 1550

The transatlantic slave trade initiated in 1502 when South American colonies and Portugal were united with Spain. Many researchers believe it initiated during the 1500s in the kingdom of Kongo1. The commonalities between the period 1550 and after 1550 was that of the concept between Indentured servitude and slavery. This perception of slavery emerged when merchants started to get a license to trade slaves to their colonies in the form of labour and debt bondage to produce goods and services for consumption that has been a central concern of Western society.

Before 1550 slavery was conducted without a license or official permit. However, after 1550, indentured servitude served as a way to license and enabled the reason to question the terms of labor, agreements, and the arrangements under which labor arranged to produce with others. Labour was the main criterion against which Africans were traded easily and through the lens of labor, we can see slavery as the initial form of indentured servitude.

However, through indentured servitude slavery got a pace since it allowed partial freedom to the workmen. It was slavery before 1550 that transformed into servitude after 1550 and never allowed the socially deprived class to make any attempt to question the arrangements of any legal bindings, necessary for skilled or unskilled laborers.

Lovejoy (2000) relates slavery with bondage and provides an African-centered focus of slavery where black slaves were made to use systematically with the West Indian Company. Lovejoy (2000) gives a particular account of the difference between slavery and servitude by pointing out that men resisted slavery at the point of enslavement particularly when they found themselves enslaved on a huge board ship with the first cargo of 11 Africans. Later it was amalgamated by British Caribbean colonies resulting in the concept of racism. Later slavery was used as a weapon to subjugate the workforce to serve political purposes or for judicial or religious reasons2.

Free vs. Unfree Labour

History reveals that European employment in the slave trade was developed on the grounds of skilled vs. unskilled labor. Unfree labour referred to the forced labor which applied to traditional slavery and occupied a central position in the medieval labor system. Although legal status was rare at that time it gradually made its way in England in the form of indentured servitude where the labor was not considered unfree anymore.

Free labor was subjected to be acquired as indentured servants who were offered depressed wages and after a limited period, their freedom was decided by their master. Indentured servants were considered as skilled and were often deployed after the movements of anti-slavery broke out, whereas slaves were unskilled and raw and were supposed to work throughout their lifetime. Historians have differentiated indentured servitude and slavery based on a form of contractual and noncontractual labor. Though such labor in both cases was not free, traditional slavery took place after Americans and European tradespeople witnessed a profitable venture.

That was after 1550 when many believe that slavery was initiated in Europe after seeing a profitable venue of American black slaves. Even the work in European colonies was different from that of English labor since it was heavily regulated for the public authorities and was entitled to fix wages3.

Atlantic slavery adopted the first legal system of domination which was fostered throughout the European settler colonies in America to enhance a vast economic complex. This involved opportunities not only to the merchants but also to the societies and governments to interact with each other and maintain friendly relations from Scandinavia to southeastern Africa. Started in the sixteenth-century transatlantic slave trade became the reason for involving participants that not remained limited to traders, merchants, and planters from Massachusetts to Mozambique4.

Slave culture

Palmie (1996) pertains slave community to a cultural survival which helped in the reconstitution of African cultures. This culture before 1550 reshaped African traditions towards a new slave religion based on magical shamanism5. We can still see a glimpse of slave culture in American society where various emotional experiences are from African customs. Throughout the centuries of slavery, it was through slave religious and cultural traditions that slaves were able to survive the abrasiveness and misery with a smile. Many slaves after witnessing the death of their loved ones put off their customs while others adapted and blended African religious rites that gave them a new form of religion.

After 1550 racism arrived with a glance of tastelessness in exposing Western oppression of New World cultures. Class division prevailed after the 1550s and was among the early English culture which responded to homelessness in the form of tastelessness and helped shape the New World labor force in the short term. Thereafter halted the transition escorting to other capitalist forms of wage-labor in the long term6.

The era of Indentured servitude

After 1550, England witnessed some changes in the unfree labor where it was considered as a universal legal form restricted by various punishments in the English law which if violated were followed by imprisonment. For instance, it was not until 1550 that legal punishments were implemented either for wages or for violating the transatlantic transportation rules. Masters held the right to imprison their workers until they were willing to complete the service contract (indentured servitude) or return to their employers for the period they had agreed upon (slavery).

Critics claim the English law to be responsible for initiating unfree labor since it embedded concepts about liberty, labor, religious church teachings, gender specificity, and observations of other European New World colonies, into the New World. Authors believe that Europe followed the roots of enslavement of Africans for practical reasons and adapt the initial origins of slavery in Europe7.

How did West Indian Company introduce slavery?

Indian indentured migration is recalled for the Caribbean sugar and Indian cotton as they were a cause for the British Empire to procure anti-slavery, free trade, and free-labor ideologies while Indian overseas workers remained under the indenture8. Dutch West India Company (WIC) was initiated in 1621 after the failure of bringing agricultural laborers from Holland to the Netherlands. When Dutch arrived in America they aimed to gain benefits of piling up money. WIC turned to slavery despite the fact it was engaged in importing slaves to other Caribbean colonies.

The WIC in the era of the mid-1600s was the most dominant European slave trader in Africa who at times bought 6,900 captives on the African coast9. These slaves were kept in the companys colonies in the West Indies but from other stations like Angola, WIC imported slaves to the Netherlands for other purposes like clearing forests, laying roads, building houses and structures, and grow food. WIC laid the foundation of personalized slave labor that later went to flourish modern New York by building its fortifications and making agriculture as trade.

Modern economic development in the pre-colonial era witnessed an accurate shortage of agricultural workers10. The WIC took a stand in a different direction and this time it allowed New Netherlanders to trade their products to Angola, meanwhile taking Negroes back home to fulfill the shortage of cultivation in their lands. WIC cleverly waive the profit for the sake of spreading slavery in New Netherlands and getting the slave colony settled and even allowed private owners to exchange slaves they were dissatisfied with for company slaves. Within years after finding slave agriculturalists, the price of skilled men in New Netherlands rose about 300 percent and by the time the British got hold of the colony in 1664 slaves sold in New Amsterdam for double the price11.

Over time the economic status of slavery in New Netherlands conflicted with that of the religious British citizens who followed the Dutch into the north Atlantic colonies. It is considered that racism started when free blacks intervened with whites during the military since the desperate Indian war of 1641 was on its way and whites were busy conducting revolts. WIC after acknowledging that slaves had worked hard issued them a certain grant over time which slaves considered as half freedom.

Indentured Indians were migrated from India to all parts of the British Empire on depressed wages which often lead to the start of many movements. Northrup (1995) suggests Serial indentured contracts had a long history in British colonies in the Americas where more than half of the European migrants to British colonies were estimated to have been indentured12. Abolitionists despised slavery because they thought it was something devilish as it contravened human decency as well as the teachings of the Christian religion13. The solution they thought to legitimize slavery was through free labor.

Indentured servants gained significance in shaping the early economy of the colonial Chesapeake Bay region where in exchange for transportation to the new world and the eventual opportunity to establish themselves in the colonies, indentured servants were supposed to supply labor to tobacco farmers who were seeking labor. Historical analysis of indentured servitude denies traditional slavery methods and witness the accustomed master-servant relationship as a simple exchange of service for transportation. Servants were upkeep and freedom dues were paid in terms of corn, food, or clothing14. On the contrary, for slaves, the master-servant relationship was nothing but human abuse and maltreatment.

Building colonies for Indentured Servants

Building colonies in exchange for labor depended on the nature of the servant trade and contract where the economic contribution of servants to the tobacco-growing regimen and the economic impulses that encouraged the transition from servant to slave labor took place in the late seventeenth century. Settlement patterns regarding the significance of servants to population growth and family formation were depicted in context with other social and behavioral aspects of the servant experience15.

The result of such profitable deals made the New Englanders contemplate developing new ideas of slave trade what came to be known as the Triangular Trade. European troops and ships carried sugar from the plantation colonies of the Caribbean to New England where colonists purify it into rum. New Englanders then further put this rum to African passage where in exchange the merchants get slaves16.

Employment under a system of indentured servitude as compared to traditional slaves has little evidence in history. However, liberated blacks who embarked in New York for Abaco were indentured to some of the white loyalist refugees whom they accompanied. The reasons for indenturing free blacks and the terms of their indenture are still unknown, nevertheless the indenturing of free blacks had however a contemporary parallel.

It happened in 1780 when in Pennsylvania Gradual Abolition Law was introduced as a system of indenture for former slaves that created a substitute form of labor that in some ways was more efficient than perpetual servitude17. The American Loyalists migrating to Abaco were probably anxious to guarantee labor services for themselves in an unfamiliar environment as they turned to a system of unfree labor that predated chattel slavery as the predominant labor system in the British-American colonies.

The years after 1550 further promoted the system of indentured servitude and provided employers with an institutional legal alternative to slavery as a method of commanding and controlling labor18.

However, it is difficult to measure the extent to which the system of indenture was adopted because according to Johnson (1996) references to its existence appeared primarily in advertisements concerning runaways in the colonys newspapers that was an indication that the system was used to bind both free nonwhites and whites to regular employment in the rural as well as in the urban one19. By the year 1750 provincial rulers with a large number of slave soldiers monopolized the African kings of Congo resulting in maintaining a social order based on slavery20.

References

Anonymous, (2005) New England and the African Slave Trade, Social Education. Volume: 69. Issue: 6, p. 338.

Cawley. Alexa Silver, (1999) A Passionate Affair: The master servant relationship in seventeenth century Maryland, The Historian. Volume: 61. Issue: 4, p. 751.

Cefalu A. Paul, (2000) Rethinking the Discourse of Colonialism in Economic Terms: Shakespeares the Tempest, Captain John Smiths Virginia Narratives, and the English Response to Vagrancy, Shakespeare Studies, p. 85.

Drescher Seymour, (2002) The Mighty Experiment: Free labor vs. Slavery in British Emancipation: Oxford University Press: London.

Heywood, M. Linda (2009) Slavery and its transformation in the Kingdom of Congo: 1490-1800. Journal of African History, 50, pp. 1-22.

Johnson Howard, (1996) The Bahamas from Slavery to Servitude, 1783-1933: University Press of Florida: Gainesville, FL.

Kale Madhavi, (1998) Fragments of Empire: capital, slavery and Indian indentured labour migration in the British Caribbean. University of Pennsylvania Press.

Lovejoy, E. Paul, (1989) The Impact of the Atlantic slave trade on Africa: A review of the literature, Journal of African History, 30, pp. 365-394.

Lovejoy, E. Paul, (2000) Identity in the Shadow of Slavery, Continuum International Publishing Group.

Miller M. Randall, (1999) The Origins of American Slavery: Freedom and Bondage in the English Colonies, The Historian. Volume: 61. Issue: 2, p. 437.

Northrup David, (1995) Indentured labour in the age of imperialism 1834-1922, Cambridge University Press.

Palmie Stephan, (1996) Slave Cultures and the Cultures of Slavery, University of Tennessee Press.

Saunders Kay, (1984) Indentured Labour in the British Empire, 1834-1920. Taylor and Francis.

Slavery, 2009a. Web.

Steinfeld J. Robert, (1991) The Invention of Free labour: The Employment Relation in English and American Law and Culture, 1350-1870: University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, NC.

Footnotes

  1. Heywood, 2009.
  2. Lovejoy, 2003, p. 4.
  3. Steinfeld, 1991, p. 3.
  4. Drescher, 2002, p. 3.
  5. Palmie, 1996, p. 37.
  6. Cefalu, 2000.
  7. Miller, 1999.
  8. Kale, 1998, p. 12.
  9. Slavery, 2009a.
  10. Lovejoy, 1989, p. 366.
  11. Slavery, 2009a.
  12. Northrup, 1995, p. 4.
  13. Saunders, 1984, p. 6.
  14. Cawley, 1999.
  15. Cawley, 1999.
  16. Anonymous, 2005.
  17. Johnson, 1996, p. 25.
  18. Johnson, 1996, p. 25.
  19. Ibid.
  20. Heywood, 2009.

The Plant Fungi Partnership  Benefits of Trade

Plant Roots Function

Roots, along with leaves, are important organs of plants.

Their functions are diverse and vary across species. Two of their best-known functions are supply of resources and mechanical support.

Chief Resources

  • Carbon
  • Water
  • Nutrients

Importantly, the roots not only absorb the resources from the soil but are able to redistribute them if needed.

Additional Functions

  • Nutrient and Water Storage
  • Chemical Balancing
  • Sensor Network
  • Absorptive Function
  • Habitat for Mycorrhizal Fungi

Plant Roots Structure 1

The outer layer of the root is termed cortex. It is mainly composed of the cells with large vacuoles used to store solutes. Its size and capacity differ across species.

Epidermis is the outmost layer of the cortex. It is in direct contact with soil and serves as a conductor for resource distribution and sensory perception. The function of epidermis obviously depends on the area of contact.

To extend the contact with soil, epidermis cells grow into long extensions called root hairs. The denser and thicker the hairs, the better the functioning capacity of the root.

Plant Roots Structure 2

Under the cortex, the root contains exodermis  a layer of cells modified with a hydrophobic compound called suberin. Its most likely function is protection of the root from adverse soil conditions and parasites (University of Western Australia, 2008b).

Endodermis is the innermost layer of cells which separates the stele from the outer layer and provides isolation allowing for water and nutrient transfer in the root.

Importantly, endodermis also regulates mycorrhiza associations by confining the penetration of fungi into the outer layers of the root (University of Western Australia, 2008b).

Fungal Symbiosis 1

The plant-fungi symbiosis is a type of relationship where fungi living on the plants roots absorb a portion of their nutrients.

Such setting is usually perceived as undesirable since the symbiosis is incorrectly associated with parasitic activity.

Besides, fungi are known as a reason behind several plant diseases, including smut, rust, blight, powdery mildew, and fusarium wilt, among others (The Compost Gardener, n.d.).

Fungal Symbiosis 2

In reality, the process of symbiosis requires mutual benefits for all organisms involved in the relation.

Mycorrhizal associations, in particular, are thought to be largely beneficial for the carrier (the plant).

While the understanding of the fungi-plant symbiosis is far from complete because of its extreme complexity, the current consensus of the issue suggests the following benefits:

  • Increased nutrient uptake
  • Assistance in nitrogen fixing process
  • Drought tolerance
  • Increased disease resistance
  • Glomalin production
  • Improved resource redistribution (The Compost Gardener, n.d.)

Forms of Symbiosis

Two types of symbiotic relations exist.

Ectomycorrhiza

  • Fungi do not penetrate walls of the roots cells.
  • Use hyphae to form an intercellular interface known as Hartig Net (University of Western Australia, 2008a).

Endomycorrhiza (i.e. arbuscular mycorrhiza)

Fungi penetrate cortical cells of the root. Arbuscular mycorrhiza form arbuscules and vesicles  specialized structures which allow for better nutrient and micronutrient exchange (University of Western Australia, 2008a).

Stages of Symbiosis 1

The symbiosis is initiated by soil hyphae (e.g. external or extraradical hyphae) present in the soil or left over from previous root activity.

  1. Upon detecting new root presence, hyphae start growing toward it and along the root surface.
  2. Some hyphae penetrate between epidermal cells and form swellings called appressoria (University of Western Australia, 2008a).
  3. Hyphae from the appressoria start penetrating cortical cells and form a network in the outer cortex.

Two main types of VAM hyphae

  • Distributive (thicker, responsible for association propagation)
  • Absorptive (thinner, facilitate nutrient acquisition)

Stages of Symbiosis 2

Inside the cortex, hyphae eventually spread to form a colony  an association originating from the same external hyphae.

Two types of colony morphology

  • Linear (Arum) Characterized by longitudinal growth between host cells. Occurs in roots which have intercellular air spaces aligned horizontally.
  • Coiling (Paris) A colony grows in the form of a coil. Occurs where the root contains no longitudinal intercellular spaces.

Stages of Symbiosis 3

In a few days after root penetration, VAM start establishing what is considered main means of exchange with host root.

Arbuscules

  • Vastly branched fine hyphal structures resembling trees.
  • Form a nutrient exchange interface
  • Grow inside individual cells.
  • Short-lived (lifespan of several days)

Vesicles

  • hyphal swellings in cortical cells which have accumulative function
  • Contain lipids and cytoplasm
  • Intercellular or intracellular
  • Have lifespan of months or years

Stages of Symbiosis 4

Spores are swellings of hyphae similar to vesicles.

Features

  • Can form inside the root or on soil hyphae.
  • Contain lipids, cytoplasm, and nuclei.
  • Develop thick walls.
  • Sometimes cluster to form a structure called sporocarp (University of Western Australia, 2008a).

Functions

  • Act as propagules (form specialized germination structures or grow hyphae directly through spore walls)
  • Remobilize resources (accumulate nutrients with senescence of root association)

Benefits

  • The resulting hyphal network allows arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to take carbon directly from the root.
  • In return, the network improves phosphorus intake by the plant.
  • This is achieved mainly by the density of fine hyphae in the soil which contributes the area of root surface.

In economic terms, such symbiosis can be compared to international trade with two partners specializing in certain markets.

Benefits of Specialization 1

In the described relationships, the root specializes in producing sugars. It has an advantage over AMF thanks to photosynthetic mechanisms of the plant.

Phosphorus is usually present in soil in forms which are hard for plants to use.

Mycorrhizal fungi produce acids which break down mineral compounds into ones usable by plants.

The fungi, on the other hand, make it possible for the plant to obtain phosphorus in greater amounts.

Roots have a lower opportunity cost of carbon production (they sacrifice less for it) (Pearson Learning Solutions, 2014).

The AMF have a comparative advantage in supply of phosphorus (Pearson Learning Solutions, 2014).

Benefits of Specialization 2

Observations reveal that plants which exist in symbiosis with AMF are healthier and have better chances of survival.

It is thus tempting to assume that the carbon investment results in sufficient returns for plant roots.

A paper by Walder et al. (2012) measures and illustrates these benefits by studying microcosms of two plants interlinked by a common mycorrhizal network (CMN).

This fact aligns well with the principles of specialization, which, like the definition of symbiosis discussed above, suggest that these relations are beneficial for both partners.

The results indicated a return of investment of nitrogen and phosphorus sufficient for a highly facilitated growth of both plants and the overall biomass production surpassing the mean of separate monocultures (Walder et al., 2012).

Benefits of Specialization 3

Intriguingly, the results of the study also indicate strong asymmetry in returns.

One plant invested about a third of its carbon to CMN and gained massive returns (94% of phosphorus and 80% of nitrogen) (Walder et al., 2012).

  • Virtually unattainable outside symbiosis
  • Enormous contribution to plants development

Another plant made a much greater investment of about 70% of its carbon. However, the returns were much more modest (6% phosphorus and 20% nitrogen) (Walder et al., 2012).

  • Ineffective when viewed in separation
  • Does not affect growth
  • Contributes to intercropping

In economic terms, the lower opportunity cost of carbon production of the second plant allows it to redistribute resources and benefit other trade partners without significant sacrifice.

Benefits of Specialization 4

Aside from the direct benefits of nutrient exchange, the symbiosis of mycorrhizal fungi and plant roots demonstrates several indirect benefits.

  • Rhizobia requires the assistance of mycorrhizal fungi to fix nitrogen.
  • The size of hyphae allows the CMN to collect water more efficiently and hydrate plants in dry periods.
  • The intra-root hyphae form a barrier which protects the root mechanically from harmful organisms and facilitate growth of cultures which defend plants from disease.
  • Glomalin produced by CMN prevents soil erosion and aggregates its particles, which improves air and water penetration (The Compost Gardener, n.d.).

Basically, the fungi have a competitive advantage in producing a range of products and services in exchange for carbon offered by the root.

Green Economy

The symbiosis with mycorrhizal fungi offers benefits not only on the microcosm level but poses several possibilities of economic and ecological variety.

Ecology

  • Maximize efficiency of nutrient and water intake naturally present in soil.
  • Decrease erosion rate.
  • Redistribute resources, thereby increasing the chances of survival of an ecosystem.
  • Create a self-regulating sustainable system (Green Economy, 2012).

Economy

  • Decrease the need for costly hydration and fertilization.
  • Minimize the disruptive effect of unwise agricultural practices.
  • Equalize the yield and increase predictability of an outcome.
  • Decrease number of steps in a production cycle and lower carbon imprint.

References

. (2012). Web.

Pearson Learning Solutions. (2014). International trade and finance. Web.

The Compost Gardener. (n.d.). . Web.

University of Western Australia. (2008). . Web.

University of Western Australia. (2008). . Web.

Walder, F., Niemann, H., Natarajan, M., Lehmann, M. F., Boller, T., & Wiemken, A. (2012). Mycorrhizal networks: common goods of plants shared under unequal terms of trade. Plant Physiology, 159(2), 789-797.

Russia as a World Trade Organization Member

Introduction

For a long time, Russia has been trying to become a member of the World Trade Organization. Russias efforts have however been thwarted by European Union members who felt that the country was not sincere in its bid. However, this situation is about to change if recent reports are anything to go by. According to a report published in a recent publication of the New York Times, negotiators drawn from Russia and the European Union block have reached a consensus regarding trade, which has been the biggest hindrance to Russias bid. According to the report, this marks an important step toward the realization of Russias plans. (Roskin, & Berry, 2010)

Blocking of Russias bid by European nations

Initially, Russia began showing an interest of joining W.T.O in 1993. As the years progressed, the country began showing little interest of joining the 153-country organization. This lack of enthusiasm was not lost on Western nations who wanted to draw Russia into the organization due to the role that the country can play as an emerging economy. In the recent months, Russia has been showing its interest of wanting to join the organization once again.

Unlike in the past, its fresh bid has received wide support from high-ranking Western officials. One of these leaders is President Obama who since his election two years ago has been doing anything possible to improve ties with Russia. The biggest reason why the West has been trying to incorporate Russia into the W.T.O. has been to ensure that they control the countrys trade as stipulated in the organizations articles of association. On top of this, getting Russia to join the W.T.O. is believed to have the possibility of increasing confidence for Western investors. (Castle, 2010)

Arriving at a consensus

According to officials, the recent talks created a common ground that is supposed to be adopted by leaders from all the present nations. During the meeting, the two sides were able to resolve the existing differences regarding levies on the export of unrefined materials, which include timber and other goods transported by rail. During the meeting, Russia agreed to scrape timber tariffs, which some member countries had opposed. However, Russia is approaching the matter cautiously and it only agreed to phase out these tariffs once its ascension to the W.T.O. was ratified.

Russians are optimistic that if the talks bear fruit, it will go a long way in helping them build their economy. This year alone, Russia has been seen to relax its stance regarding trade with its neighboring countries like Poland. The West has translated this as willingness to trade with other nations in the block. Despite this breakthrough, Russia has to accent to other important issues before its proposal is accepted. Analysts believe that the biggest challenge that Russia has to resolve is bettering its bilateral relations with Ukraine and Georgia. (Castle, 2010)

Conclusion

Russias bid to join the World Trade Organization has been going on for a long time. However, its bid has continually been frustrated by European nations, which have been opposed to Russias policy on trade. As the years went by, Russia seemed to recede on its quest to join the organization. In the recent past, Western officials led by the American President have been trying to foster good relations between their countries and Russia. This is being done in a bid to encourage foreign investors to invest in Russia, which is seen as a key player in global trade. By joining the W.T.O., the Western officials are hoping that they will be able to boost foreign investor confidence.

References

Castle, S. (2010, November 25). Russians Step Closer to Joining W.T.O. New York Times. Web.

Roskin, M., & Berry, N. (2010). The New World of International Relations. San Francisco: Longman, Pearson Education.

International Trade as a Significant Issue in International Political Economy

Introduction

There are a number of economic issues which have to be evaluated by different scientists and philosophers in order to identify how it is possible to improve living conditions as well as introduce the most effective steps in the chosen field.

The idea of international relations is widely spread nowadays and provides the representatives of various countries with the possibilities to define their skills and promote services through the whole world. International trade is one of the main components under which international relations may be based. There are many writers who share their knowledge and ideas about the development of international relations, and each author achieves good results in the chosen activities.

In this paper, two different books will be analyzed in order to define weak and strong sides of international politics of trade and comprehend what may influence the trade process in different countries. The Politics of International Economic Relations is the book by Joan E. Spero and Jeffrey A. Hart about the peculiarities of the politics in current world economy.

With the help of this book, it is possible to understand how globalization promotes international relations and how developing nations may achieve the desirable success. Another book chosen for evaluation is written by Syed J. Maswood. International Political Economy and Globalization is the source of information about different trade issues and financial stability that is crucially important for different nations.

International trade is the way of how nations have to exchange different services, goods, and products. In order to select the right and, what is more important, effective way, it is necessary to have appropriate theoretical background and access to current changes and existed demands.

International trade is a complex issue in political economy that requires certain attention and evaluation: there are many historical events which influence the development of this industry like World War II and Great Depression, however, the appropriate promotion of the WTO and the GATT has a number of positive aspects which are properly discussed by Maswood, Spero, and Hart.

International Political Economy as a Discipline to Analyze the Relations between Countries

International political economy, also known as IPE, appeared not long time ago. During the 1970s, there was a need of investigations among the existed economic foundations in order to comprehend the reasons of world oil crisis in 1973 and breakdown of one of the most popular monetary order known as the Bretton Woods system according to which monetary relations with different nations could be developed.

However, the Bretton Woods system was not perfect and could not cope with a number of problems which challenged the vast majority of European countries (Spero and Hart 15), this is why businessmen as well as philosophers and researchers found it very important to promote the discipline the purpose of which would be the evaluation of current economic conditions and identification of political, legal, and even philosophical factors.

The relations between countries may be properly developed only in case all members are aware of special standards and ready to meet the demands and perform the functions set. Maswood calls international trade as the source of dynamism and development (21) that is characterized by a number of benefits and alternatives. The presence of alternatives makes this exchange of goods dependent on various outside factors like globalization, political conditions, and legal implementations.

In case one country undergoes some challenges and problems in the above-mentioned spheres, international trade could not be supported any more until appropriate solutions are found. And the discipline called international political economy aims at studying international relations taking into consideration such aspects of political economy like buying and selling in terms of law, government, custom, and so on.

Maswoods achievements as well as Spero and Hart cooperation contributes considerably the field of international economic relations

One of the most successful attempts to evaluate international economic relations is made by Spero and Hart. Within a short period of time, international political economy has become a prominent field within the frames of which problems connected to a dollar or other currencies and challenges with international trade are discussed.

Economic growth based on technological innovations promotes fast development of international trade. Trade policy is the question evaluated by domestic politics constantly, this is why it usually determined prosperity or adversity and considered to be the subject of frequent and often highly charged domestic political conflict (Spero and Hart 72).

To find the most effective way to solve the conflicts, professionals offer a number of rules and regulations which have to be imposed on international traded and decrease the level of controversies appeared day by day. The process of international trade lies into the fact that goods are transported across several boundaries and have to be bartered. One of the most successful examples of international trade line is the Silk Road that is supported by the European and Asian representatives.

Information offered in the other source by Maswood helps to comprehend how international trade has been developed through times and which improvements have been implemented. In fact, international trade has been regulated by bilateral treaties between the nations which were going to exchange the goods or services.

Due to some uncertainties or inabilities inherent to mercantilists, the vast majority of nations restricted the development of international trade or set too high tariffs. Mercantilists viewed international trade as a zero-sum activity and, consequently, emphasized the importance of trade controls to benefit the national economy (Maswood 21).

Fortunately, at the beginning of the 19th century, the representatives of British government made a decision to support the idea of international trade and, as a result, the agricultural Britain turned out to be the industrial country with a variety of opportunities. This growth in the sphere of manufacturing promoted many new possibilities which lead to the fact that consumption of manufactured goods had high income elasticity (Maswood 23).

In other words, the ideas offered by the authors under consideration have a number of common ideas as well as differences which supplement each other: if Spero and Hart focus on past achievements and factors which predetermine the current situation in international trade, Maswood, in his turn, evaluates the achievements of modern political economy in different countries.

The key country of Spero and Hart is the United States of America with their rich history and achievements, and Maswood writes more about Great Britain and its primary steps on the field of international trade.

Current Changes on Political Arena That Influence International Relations and International Trade

Political, economic, and social factors define the way of how different countries may promote the idea of international trade as a significant part of business.

Still, there were many historical events which deprived tradesmen of the opportunities to develop relations and create appropriate conditions for their activities. The World War II provided the United States of America with a chance to ask its allies commitments for freeing of international trade that served as a basis for a postwar international commercial order (Spero and Hart 73).

This is why nowadays, the Unites States of America is the country with properly developed trade system and clearly defined partners. This sphere of business helps to meet the needs of citizens as well as share services and goods with other countries. The USA took a significant leadership role with such countries like Japan, France, Russia, and some more European countries.

In spite of the fact that nowadays European countries and Japan demonstrated successful achievements in international trade and the results of American trade system decrease considerably, Americans still perform the functions of the leaders and do not find it necessary to lose their positions. Due to the US firms which dominate in the computing industry (Spero and Hart 111), American tradesmen are able to evaluate various spheres of life and define the demands of citizens in regard to their interests.

Maswoods book helps to identify the most crucial steps in the development of international trade and attempts of different countries to dictate their own conditions and rules.

Various improvements have been observed in the first half of the 20th century: Italy increased tariffs for the representatives from France and the United States of America in the middle of 1930; Canada wanted to take as much as possible from its American neighbours in 1930; and Australia did not differentiate countries but increased general tariffs at the beginning of the 1930 (Maswood 26).

The results of such changes made some countries reject some partnerships, and some countries got a chance to earn a lot. In 2005, it was stated that the value of world merchandise trade was about $1,2 trillion. These achievements are rather promising, this is why the vast majority of restrictions in the past are justified by the author.

World Trade Organization as an Attempt to Liberalize International Trade

For each country, it was crucially important to establish the rules and standards which could be optimal for all members of international trade, still, numerous attempts were not as successful as they expected to be. Maswood defines a World Trade Organization as an important step toward minimizing the de-liberalization of international trade (43).

The ideas offered by Spero and Hart are similar to those offered by Maswood, still, these authors admit that such international organization should help to supervise trade between the participating countries. In fact, the role of World Trade Organization is huge indeed; after it replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, also known as the GATT, in 1995, the conditions under which countries had to exchange services and goods improved considerably.

On the one hand, this organization is responsible for negotiations and formulations of trade agreements between different countries taking into consideration the demands and requirements of all sides on new bases.

On the other hand, in both books, it is admitted that the conditions of WTO agreements and work focus on derive from past agreements offered by UR (Uruguay Round) and the GATT. This is why in order to comprehend how the WTO may work and what conditions are considered, it is better to evaluate past achievements in the chosen sphere, evaluate each organization separately, and compare the WTO with them.

Spero and Hart identify three organizations as cornerstones of international economic governance (2). They are the World Bank that was created to facilitate the process of recovery after the war, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that clearly defined the functions of international trade and tradesmen, and the GATT that aimed at establishing the principles for multilateral traffic negotiations.

In comparison to Maswood who define the last organization the most favourable and effective means to promote international trade, Spero and Hart seem to be more passionate with the World Bank and the possibilities offered. Actually, the World Bank supported only developing countries so that they could have leveraged loans and use them for capital programs.

The main purpose of the World Bank was always to reduce the level of poverty and help all countries achieve the same success. However, the existed inequality is one of the key promoters of trade: those who do not have something have to do something in order to earn and reach the desirable goal. And those countries that are rich in some particular production can sale good and services and increase incomes.

In its turn, the International Monetary Fund set the purpose to stabilize international exchange rates and encourage liberalising economic policies by means of enforcement.

So, it may be observed that all trade organizations had the same purpose  to improve the conditions of international trade; still, the methods differed considerably, this is why it was obligatory to implement one system that could meet the needs of both developed and developing counties because of personal desire. In the books under analysis, the authors underline how successful and well-timed the World Trade Organization was at the first day of 1995.

International trade would be incomplete without the conditions offered by the World Trade Organization. The point is that the WTO does not predict possible outcomes of the activities; but what the organization decides to do is to formulate a number of principles in accordance with which trading countries have to work.

One of the most effective principles is the idea of non-discrimination. It means that each country has the right to develop the relations with other countries on the same basics. There is no need to identify one country that deserves special attention and tariffs, and another country due to its low financial position should undergo different trading conditions.

This is why all WTO members have the same rights, possibilities to be improved and developed. The same attitude is observed with the services and goods which are sold. Import production should be treated the same way domestic products are treated: all technical and security standards should be met in accordance with the requirements mentioned in the agreement.

Globalization as a Significant Factor in International Trade

The issue of globalization is considered to be an important aspect to take care of. For example, it is stated that globalization is the main reason of why more markets for goods and services have to be open, why multiple distribution should be provided by all businessmen, and why global markets need to be available 24/7 (Spero and Hart 8). Of course, technological progress supports the process of globalization, still, it is not always possible for all people to get used to the new improvements and innovations.

The vast majority of developing countries admit that globalization is the process that creates a number of disadvantages: the examples are numerous labour mobility challenges and investment capital that is repatriated by workers. In spite of the fact that governments try to assist the workers to adapt to a globalizing economy by means of retraining or special education, this support is always enough for the required professional level.

Another aspect of globalization in countries which are not adapted for innovations is constantly increasing losses: people have to pay more money to get an idea on how to overcome globalization and comprehend the demands which are set by time and fashion. This is why to meet the conditions introduced by the WTO and be a worthwhile trading member, it is very important to get an appropriate level of knowledge, find financial support, and evaluate the conditions under which trade may be developed.

Improvements in the Field of International Trade

In the current world, there are many aspects which have to be reformatted and improved considerably, and one of them is international trade. Taking into consideration that there are a number of rules and policies which have to evaluated by all tradesmen, it is very important to formulate them so that each member of international trade is satisfied.

Nowadays, there are many methods of how international trade may be organized, this is why it seems to be not that difficult to decide on the steps which should be chosen. First, controversies around the World Trade Organization should be solved. It is said that the WTO that is based on democratic principles offered by the GATT does not introduce itself as a pure democratic organization that tries to meet the interests of all member countries.

What is more important, the WTO is now recognized as the instigator of the trade that is managed by corporations. Public interest is not taken into account, however, enough attention is paid to large organizations which have money and want to have more. This is why nowadays, the WTO has more opponents as all those workers and consumers who were waiting for some help and support became upset with the conditions they have to work under.

There are many debates on how it is possible to improve the situation and return a true essence of the WTO and its possibilities. The authors of the books under analysis suggest the government to take control over the activities and evaluate the public opinion with the help of which international trade continues developing and improving.

It is necessary to remember that international trade is based on ordinary people who create production, provide services, and perform the role of contributors. This is why it is wrong to neglect their opinions and demands just in order to earn money and take leading positions in some particular sphere.

Conclusion

The two books chosen for the analysis in this paper are considered to be interesting and educative sources. With the help of Maswoods International Political Economy and Globalization, the reader is able to understand how different countries promote international trade and achieve appropriate results in their activities. Attention to the process of globalization makes the reader comprehend how challenging innovations could be for ordinary people as well as for professional tradesmen.

Spero and Hart introduce another powerful source called The Politics of International Economic Relations that supplements the ideas offered by the previous writer. International relations are complex, and there are many objectives which should be considered to understand a true nature of international trade. This is why it seems to be rather effective to evaluate the past of political economy and international trade in particular and define how it is possible to improve the present and future conditions.

Works Cited

Maswood, Syed, J. International Political Economy and Globalization. Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific, 2008.

Spero, Joan, E. and Hart, Jeffrey, A. The Politics of International Economic Relations. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2009.

Critical Assess Trade Relations between the US and EU

Trade is an important aspect of any economy. With the advent of globalisation, many countries have established trade relations with their international partners. Such relations have been found to increase the stakeholders profitability based on the diverse products and services they have been able to share.

Although conflicts between different countries have barred them from forming trade ties, it is crucial to note, as the paper presents, that formulation of trade policies can help much in minimising conflicts among nations. The European Union (EU) and the United States in particular are two blocs that have significant trade relations.

According to Pollack, the EU accounted for approximately 23% of the merchandise trade in goods and services in the year 2009 (2010, p. 78). This relationship extends further in the direct investments between the two blocs, with each having companies investing in the others territory.

As Pollack observes, European companies accounted for $1.5trillion, or 63%, of total foreign direct investment in the United States&its companies accounted for $1.7 trillion, or about 50%, of total foreign investment in Europe in 2009 (2010, p. 78). This revelation also means that the companies from both sides of the Atlantic employ millions of workers in the respective countries through their relevant subsidiary companies.

The investment connection between the two is also considered the biggest around the globe. Because of the sheer size, it is also of significant importance in the global economy (Pollack 2010, p. 79).

Due to the above listed characteristic of the transatlantic economy that is created by the trade between the two, it is important to assess the role played in the global economy and the nature of trade relations. Some of the important factors that will be discussed include the potential impacts of the free trade agreement that is likely to arise between the two trade partners.

Topic of the Proposed Research

Based on the importance of the trade relations of the EU and the US on the global economy, it is important that the relationship be critically evaluated. The appropriate topic for this dissertation is, therefore, set as, Critically Assess Trade Relations between the US and EU.

Objectives and Aims of the Proposed Research

The main aim of the research is to critically examine the bilateral trade relations between the EU and the United States and the significance of the relations to the global economy. This approach will be crucial in outlining the different policy frameworks that exist between the two, the alterations in the relations that are likely to occur in the future, and the potential impact that this link may have on the overall global trade.

The research will therefore be important in establishing the favourable policies between the two partners and those that pose a challenge to their trade. It will also outline some of the problems that the EU and the US trade relations faced. In order to realise the aim of the study, some the following objectives will be important:

  1. To establish the nature of the trade relations between the EU and the US.
  2. To establish the challenges faced by the bilateral trade agreements between the EU and the US.
  3. To assess some of the proposed measures to further develop the trade relations between the EU and the US.
  4. To find out the existing policies that govern the bilateral trade relations between the US and the EU.

Importance of the proposed research

Research on trade links between the US and the EU is pivotal in the field of economics and international relations. Before making a critical argument of the relations between the EU and the US, it is important to consider some of the reasons why this critique should be made together with its significance to the current economic crises.

The EU and the US are some of the biggest economies in the world, with the transatlantic trade between the two contributing to more than one eighth of the worlds trade (Giovanni 2007, p. 72). With the adoption of common trade policies by the EU member states and the formation of a common currency, the trade relations between the bloc and the US are increasingly becoming more important.

For centuries, the two have relied on each other for the performance of their respective economies, with the domestic affairs being crucial to the partners in the maintenance of economic stability.

This strategy has led to a situation where the economic performance of the two and the global economy are tagged on the performance of the Trans Atlantic trade.

A case in point is the global crisis that originated from the United States and proceeded to affect both the EU member states economies as well as other economies in the world (Ranjit 2005, p. 45). It is therefore important that the balance of trade and the relations between these two trade partners be studied in details (Schimmelfenng, & Sedelmeier 2004, p. 669).

With the EU being the second biggest market for the US merchandise after Canada, and the largest destination of service export, the stability of the US economy is heavily depended on the bloc. This argument means that it is vital to study the relations to predict the outcomes of a potential shift in market for the EU (Klaus 2005, p. 126).

The transatlantic trade between the two parties is also currently under threat from other emerging markets such as China and the Indian Subcontinent, with the latter increasing in influence for the EU at the expense of the US (Gill, & Murphy 2008, p. 54). This study will, therefore explore some of the threats that the trade faces in an attempt to provide some of the possible recommendations and solutions.

Another relevance of the study is the exposure that it will provide on the dynamics of international trade. This case will contribute towards the understanding of the concept. One of the key factors to consider in a trade relationship between two countries is the sustainability of their interactions in this avenue as Gill and Murphy (2008) point out.

It will therefore be necessary to consider this factor in the study. The evaluation of the sustainability of the north Atlantic trade relationship between the EU and the US will therefore enable researchers to establish policies that are contributory to the harmony while at the same time spelling out those that are detrimental to the survival of the trade ties.

Summary and Outline of the Proposed Research Topic

The economic and trade ties between the US and the EU have been in existence since the year 1953 with these being preceded by diplomatic relations in the same year (CRS Report RS20571, 2002). The culmination of the largest economic and military cooperation in the world is central when it comes to predicting the trend of US-EU the economic and trade relations.

Over the years, the balance of trade between the two has been dictated by the US. However, the EU has witnessed significant economic growth over the last number of years thus leading to the emergence of trade conflicts between the two partners (Scott, & Bergstrand 2004, p. 53).

Of significance in the trade conflicts has been the policy adopted unilaterally by either of them with the EU being the major culprit in this case. Significant and timely resolutions have however been reached in the past majorly due to the overreliance of these partners on each other for market. The disputes however contribute to about 2% loss of trade between the two (Podsakoff 2004, p. 17).

It is worth noting that the transatlantic trade between the two contributes to 33% of the worlds goods trade and 42% of the trade in services, with the figures representing over 60% of the global GDP (CRS Report RS20571, 2002). The policies adopted by the EU and the countermeasures put in place by the US to maintain and ensure sustainability of the transatlantic trade are important to consider in this paper.

Description of Chapters in the Proposed Research

The proposed research will comprise four main chapters. The first chapter will comprise the introduction, which will present the purpose of study, research methods, relevant research questions, the aims and objectives, and a discussion on the overall research composition.

In the second chapter, the theory of regional trade integration will be scrutinised, as well as trade integrations from the perspectives of export and import treaties coupled with the implications of the treaties to parties forming the bilateral trade relationships.

Chapter 3 will encompass the applications of the theory developed to the EU and the US trade relationships. In this section, the departure of alignment of the US-EU trade relationship from the theoretical constructs will be analysed together with the identification of the possible solutions to the stalemates.

The last chapter (chapter 4) will have the conclusions derived from the study. The other components of this chapter will include the key findings and recommendations to the relevant authorities.

Literature Review

The trade relations between the US and the EU have attracted a lot of attention over the past few decades mainly because of the rapid economic growth of the EU. Various authors have written to express themselves on their predictions of the economic relations between the EU and the US and specifically on the challenges ahead.

The economic bloc that is the EU has engaged in the past on policies that are more protective for its own local economy, with the reliance on the transatlantic trade with the US being put more under control.

The economic muscle that the union has developed can be attributed to the integrative public policies put in place to a common market (Szmanski, & Smith 2005, p. 52: Global Europe 2006). In the synthesis of a relevant literature review, certain methods were used. The following section, therefore, states some of these methods and the outcomes of each with the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Methods Review

For the achievement of the aims and objectives of this research, the methodology that will be utilised is the descriptive type. The methodology is appropriate for this research based on its intent to describe the trade relationship between the EU and the US. With the descriptive methodology being chosen, the essay will therefore be more of a description of the trade relations and their impacts on the global economy.

The challenges that are likely to develop or are established are resolved. The study will further engage the descriptive research methodology through the special method of using case studies.

In the literature that was reviewed, the transatlantic trade relationship between the US and the EU was recognised as a source of prosperity and security for the two partners. As Abbott states, the relationship that exists between the two trade partners is a historical one with its relevance surpassing any alliance ever formed between nations and regions (2002, p. 251).

It is also recognised that, for this relationship to progress in a stable and beneficial manner, some radical institutional changes are necessary on both sides of the divide (Abbott 2002, p. 257). A significant factor in the trade relations that Abbott addresses in his work is the relevance of the transatlantic trade to the ambitions of the two blocs to be international powerhouses (2002, p. 257).

According to him, the problems in the trade relations between the US and EU are not simply, America is from Mars, Europe is from Venus (Abbott 2002, p. 259). The problems are however, because of the ambitious nature of each of the two trade partners.

The rise of the EU as an international power and an economic powerhouse at the expense of the US means that the balance of trade between the two is almost shifting in favour of the bloc (Pollack 2010, p. 78). As Pollack states, the post-cold war era has guaranteed the independence of the European market with the local politicians increasingly being able to manipulate the trade to their advantage (2010, p. 78).

It is noted that, in the year 1995, the EU and the US developed strategic dialogue. This New transatlantic Agenda that has been in existence has dictated the interactions to date. There is the need, according to Pollack, to develop a newer version of the same to ensure that the relations are maintained (2010, p. 78).

In the recent past, the amount of international agenda that the EU and the US share has declined significantly with both of them having divergent priorities. The two have however been working more closely in the fight on terrorism and environmental degradation. This case has brought them close in the trade relations (Pollack 2010, p. 78).

The US has been observed to make unilateral decisions in the bilateral relations with Europe, which can be understood in the context that it is a global power with rising influence in all corners of the world (Abbott 2002, p. 262). Despite the observations, the popular support that the US enjoyed in the past century has been declining due to the wars on terrorism and other fronts that it is fighting.

Leaders facing the threat of terrorism in and out of Europe have befriended the US outside of the confines of the EU framework. This revelation means that the attractions are now beyond trade thus making it an intricate relationship (Abbott 2002, p. 259).

The most important actions in the near future for the US is to engage in trust building multilaterally with the existing public diplomacy with the EU extending to include a more defined trade policy (Pollack 2010, p. 82). Razeen suggests that the existing trade alliance between the EU and the US should be reviewed (2007, p. 45).

He states that there should be a balance between the diplomatic, political, and economic relations between the two partners with the intent of creating a feasible partnership (Galt & Phalm 2009).

In the literature reviewed, a major outcome and observation is that the EU is out to establish universal dominance with the intention of making it a key global actor. This ambition has been placed strategically above the economic and political ambitions, with the bloc willing to build a more powerful defence and international relations policy (Gill & Murphy 2008).

In the other literature that was reviewed, of note is that the EU-US trade relations have engendered little, if any, political consequences compared to the trade relations between the US and other countries in the world. This observation has been explained from several perspectives.

The most popular one is that, since the two have near compatible levels of social and economic development, the economic relations have often been balanced (Abbott 2002, p. 274). The member states of the EU compared to other nations in Africa and other continents have wage rates, economic standards, labour, and environmental levels that equal or exceed those in the US (Pollack 2010, p. 83).

This argument means that the relations between them are more balanced and that Europe is protected from the competition that would otherwise be unfair if the member states were in the same level as African nations.

The above observation according to Mitra means that the trade between the EU and the US takes place in a balanced and non-adversarial environment (2002, p. 482). The trade between China and the US differs significantly from that between it and the EU, with the latter being more of intra-industry trade (Lamy 2004, p. 53). The export commodities between the EU and US are almost similar.

They comprise mostly of automobiles, computer systems, and aircrafts. Unlike the trade between the US and China, the EU-US trade has created little concern (Pollack 2010, p. 85).

Furthermore, the trade between the EU and US has largely been affected by the macroeconomic factors including the differences in exchange rates and economic growth rates rather than the structural and trade barriers seen in other trade relations in the world (Abbott 2002, p. 274).

Despite the above-mentioned factors about the trade between the EU and the US, some differences have evolved over the last few decades. As Schott states, some of the issues include differences in the aircraft industries between them, the genetically modified organic food and agriculture, and its (food) treatment in Doha negotiations1 (1998, p. 452).

The researcher observes that, in the wake of these differences, the players on both sides have participated more in the development of policies aimed at retaliating on each others action instead of engaging in the resolution of the conflicts (Schott, 1998, p. 56). If these issues are left unchecked, they may cause significant rift in the trade relations between the US and the EU.

As Abbott states, the US congress has increasingly become the centre of the trade disputes between the US and the EU (2002, p. 274). The institution has also supported the opening of the EUs markets to agricultural and industrial products from the US.

In the evaluation of the trade disputes that have occurred between Washington and Brussels, one popular question is why the conflicts often present as a challenge to both administrations. One also wonders what can be done to amicably solve the problems as they arise. To answer these problems satisfactorily, one must look into the sources of the trade conflicts between the EU and the US.

Schott explains the sources of conflict in the transatlantic trade as merely originating from the policies that the partners create to promote or protect their domestic commercial interest at the expense of the interests of the partners (1998, p. 56).

The push for governments in the EU and the US to protect their domestic trade comes from a variety of sources including trade organisations, workers, producers, and consumers (Abbott 2002, p. 276). However, in most of the cases for both countries, the protectionist actions are originally from the governments.

Various authors have classified the conflicts between the EU and the US as political, economically generated, or social in origin. Most of the conflicts have a multidimensional origin with all factors being involved in most cases.

The major source of conflict between the EU and the US in their trade relations, according to Schott, is the need for consumer protection as explained above (1998, p. 57). The explanation is that, since there is the need to protect the consumers from exorbitant pricing of commodities, government institutions institute measures and policies aimed at achieving this goal (Schott 1998, p. 56).

In the trade relations between the EU and the US, for example, both transatlantic trade partners, in support of vested interests and key industries, craft policies that try to open markets for exports but keep markets protected from imports as much as possible (Schott 1998, p. 63).

Examples of conflicts between the two partners that fit in this category include the disagreements in the fields of agriculture, steel, aerospace, and contingency protection whose resolutions are still being sought (Schott 1998, p. 56).

Examples of measures put in place to protect the industries on both sides of the Atlantic include industrial policy, tariffs, and subsidies on the products (Josling, & Tangermann 2003, p. 234). The four are just a few of the conflicts that are predominantly present in this category, with these and others forming the traditional cause of conflict between the trade allies (Josling, & Tangermann 2003, p. 234).

The agricultural sector has been the mainstay of most of the conflicts in the transatlantic trade. The sector has seen a decline in output in the recent past. The numbers of people employed on both sides of the Atlantic and the measures put by each of the countries have had a negative effect on the market of the trade partners on the other side of the ocean (Josling, & Tangermann 2003, p. 237).

The market forces in the industry would have an overall negative effect on consumers and producers in the US and the EU respectively. Therefore, the measures put in place are just protectionist and not malicious in intent (Josling, & Tangermann 2003, p. 239). However, the result of these is a conflict that is damaging to the trade relations.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) set up by the European Union to safeguard the agricultural economy of its member states has largely been criticised by the US for its protectionist nature. It has been the source of the largest conflict between the two in this industry (Pollack 2010, p. 78).

Not only has CAP caused conflict between the EU and the US in their trans-Atlantic trade, but also, as Josling and Tangermann state, it has led to the single largest distortion in international agricultural trade (2003, p. 237).

In the Aerospace industry, there has been a growing discomfort on both sides of the trade divide over the support rendered to the aviation industry in the respective countries, especially to two of the competing leaders in aerospace development (Josling, & Tangermann 2003, p. 238). Other measures that are observed as aiding Airbus include forgiveness of debts and assistance in marketing among other aids (CRS Report RS20571 2002).

They have awarded the company an edge over the companies in the US that are involved in the same industry. In the part of the EU, the counteraccusation that is made is that the US has also assisted Boeing, a similar company in the US, with a number of subsidies.

These include the awarding of huge indirect governmental subsidies in the form of military and space contracts and government sponsored aerospace research and development (Josling, & Tangermann 2003, p. 244). The other areas of conflict include the steel industry on both sides of the Atlantic, which have attracted similar conflicts as those seen in the Agriculture and aerospace industries.

These issues are just a few of the areas that the EU and the US have conflicted over the decades. They remain to be seen on the measures put in place to prevent the escalation of the conflicts into trade difficulties.

As stated above, the US and the EU share integrated economies with the performance of each affecting the other. This case was evident in the global financial crisis of 2008. There are similarities in the way the two economies reacted to the crises on both sides of the Atlantic (Hamilton & Quinlan 2013, p. 34).

During the financial crisis, the US had to bail out several banks to prevent their collapse, as it also happened on the opposite side of the Atlantic (Hamilton & Quinlan 2013, p. 34). In the year 2012-2013, the EU-US relationship has been based on several factors, which are central to the relationship.

The collaboration in military activities has been significant through NATO, with some of the traditional European nations joining the security outfit (Hamilton & Quinlan 2013, p. 34).

Other issues of common interest during this period including counterterrorism measures, the influence of Russia on the Eastern European countries, and several developing trade issues such as the Euro zone crisis were of significance during this period (Global Europe 2006).

Review of Research Findings

The interactions between two trade partners are of significant importance to both participants in such an engagement. In the trade relationship between the EU and the US discussed above, the theory of regional trade relationships is of particular relevance.

It states that nations participating in trade should tax trade where it exists to ensure that the international market is adequately covered (Freund, & Ornelas 2010, 143). Nations engaging in international trade often have conflicts on various areas in their interactions because of policies put on the products or services produced by the other nations (Limao 2006, p. 904).

In the case of the EU and the US trade relations, bilateral agreements have largely been beneficial with the sum of the trade being the largest in the world thus contributing significantly to the economic stability of the two partners. However, as it is characteristic of all the engagements anywhere in the world, the relationship is dogged by a variety of challenges that hinder complete realisation of the bilateral goals.

Political pressure is a significant influence of trade in all corners of the globe. As McMillan states, countries with more stable and developed economic and political systems always end up turning the balance of trade to their favour (2004, p. 35). A semblance of this interaction has been observed in the trade interactions between the African nations and the EU or the US (Winters 2002, p. 453).

In these cases, the nations have always had to put a number of measures to restrict the supposed exploitation that the developed nations impose on them. In the case of the interaction between the EU and the US, however, the trade relations are those of two equally developed nations with almost similar political influence world over. This argument means that equilibrium is characteristic in the trade balance.

Another finding from the literature reviewed is that both sides in the trade relations are involved in the development of public policies that are detrimental to the trade of the other. A limiting factor, however, to the effects of these measures include the treaties that have been signed between the US and the EU member states.

Review of Concepts and Theories

In the discussion on the trade relations between the US and the EU, several theories on international trade are evident. In the discussion, a mention has been made of the economic performance of the two detailing how this factor affects their bilateral trade. If two countries work towards achieving an equal economic competitive advantage, dominance problems often arise.

According to Freund, it has been proven that two nations can work towards economic cooperation and benefit mutually from it (2010, p. 321). Some of the measures that he suggests include the use of policies that are agreed upon by the partners, with each willing to suffer an opportunity cost to such an agreement (Devuyst 2002, p. 31).

In the trade relations between the EU and the US, each enjoys a unique advantage over the others trade balance, with accusations and counteraccusations being made. The global financial crisis brought to light the interdependence that the economies in the EU and the US have over each other (Pollack 2010, p. 78).

This interdependence further emphasises the theory of regional trade treaties, which purports that the era of regional agreements is still present, and will remain for a significant time in the economic future (Ornelas 2005, p. 1485). Indeed, almost half of the world trade takes place via regional trade agreement policies.

The agreements could either be bilateral meaning that they are made between two nations, or multilateral (Bilzi, Eisner, Aronchik, & Balsanek 2011, p. 3). The realisation that engagement in regional treaties has beneficial trade outcomes for the partners has led to the development of several treaties that bind them.

Following the economic crisis that hit the world economy in the wake of the year 2008, several agreements and treaties were signed between hosts of countries because of the realisation that economic integration is of great significance. The World Trade Organisation, for example, was notified of at least 25 treaties signed between member countries during the season of economic downfall (Pollack 2010, p. 78).

Many scholars have argued over the utility that trade regionalism has over the multilateral trading system (Josling, & Tangermann 2003, p. 234).

Some have expressed the fear that the trade treaties between countries only serve to derail international trade by working against the trade advances in other countries that are not involved in the treaty (Hamilton & Quinlan 2004).

In the case of the trade relations between the EU and the US that are discussed above, the bilateral relations are of great significance to each others economic survival hence dispelling the fears of economic downturn.

Scholars have argued about the probability of a trade treaty between two nations or blocs creating unequal balance of trade, with one of the nation experiencing increased wealth at the expense of the other (Bhagwati 2008, p. 56).

In the explanation of the theory and its application in the US-EU trade relations, some scholars have argued that the US has imposed protectionist policies against the EU, with a countermeasure being put into place by the EU (Josling, & Tangermann 2003, p. 234). This case as discussed above only generates further conflicts as each of the party tries to market her products to the trade partner.

Research Design and Methods

The research spells out some of the aims and objectives that are to be achieved. The questions that arise from the aims and objectives needed appropriate research methods for data collection, analysis, and presentation. As Kothari states, success in research is a product of the methodology that should be conducted in the context of established sets of public policies or approaches that are acceptable within a specific discipline (2000, p. 98).

For any method that is utilised in the research, the policies must comprise the most efficient techniques. Several philosophies are also utilised in the research since they apply more in the methodology.

With the different types of methodologies that may be utilised in the research, the study type and the intent of the researcher determine the choice of the research methodology (Yin 2005, p. 48). These types at the disposal of a researcher include the correlation, exploratory, descriptive, and descriptive types (Yin 2005, p. 46).

The research will incorporate the large body of knowledge on international trade relations and specifically those targeting the EU and the US. The best method to carry out the research will be by the utilisation of case study method, with qualitative and quantitative studies on the subject being the main source of the information.

The GATT regional integration rules postulate some of the earliest qualitative findings from research in regional integration (Bagwell, & Staiger 2000, p. 234: Bagwell, & Staiger 2005, p. 479). The rules state that the creation of treaties between nations should not be a reason for the development of trade barriers between them.

The GATT rules are however not representative of the true trade outcomes after treaties. Therefore, there is the need for more research to establish their utility in this area due to their methodological drawbacks.

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Footnotes

1 Doha negotiations refer to the ninth meeting ever to be held since the termination of WWII whose sole agenda is to address the subject of multilateral trade and specifically how to curb trade challenges.