To this day, mainstream economists favor free trade policies as the best way to generate economic development. They do so at the expense of their unjustified romanticization of reductionist classical trade theories. This thesis seeks to comprehend the constraints of traditional trade theories and their inability to be applied to practical contemporary problems. Further, contrary to the fundamental assumption of free trade theory, there is ample evidence of government intervention in free trade agreements. These interventions solely encourage and protect large corporations and investors rather than the actual development and sustainability factors, namely labor and the environment. It all adds up to a compelling case for developing and implementing a fair trade regime.
","abstract_html":"<p>To this day, mainstream economists favor free trade policies as the best way to generate economic development. They do so at the expense of their unjustified romanticization of reductionist classical trade theories. This thesis seeks to comprehend the constraints of traditional trade theories and their inability to be applied to practical contemporary problems. Further, contrary to the fundamental assumption of free trade theory, there is ample evidence of government intervention in free trade agreements. These interventions solely encourage and protect large corporations and investors rather than the actual development and sustainability factors, namely labor and the environment. It all adds up to a compelling case for developing and implementing a fair trade regime.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Cheema, Wardah Javaid"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Chiara Piovani","Robert G. Urquhart","Henning Schwardt","George DeMartino"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:02:38Z","subjects":["Environmental standards","Fair trade","Free trade","Free trade agreements","Labor standards","Economics","International Economics","Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
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