North American Economic And Financial Integration

This book contains selected papers first presented at the "Canada-United States Business Conference" held at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, on April 11-12, 2003. The set of 18 chapters in this book are grouped into three major sections. Part I deals with regional economic integration in North America, including papers on the strategies of multinational enterprises and exporting firms. In Part II, five chapters deal with financial integration in North America and the issues of a common currency.Finally, specific industry sectors and issues of public policy across the Canada-U.S. border are examined in Part III. They include: agriculture; softwood lumber; transportation; and electricity. The key issues of current interest and concern examined include: cross border trade and security - of particular importance in the post-9/11 environment; NAFTA at age ten; and the impact of the Free Trade of the Americas (FTAA) on NAFTA; and, the FTAA and civil society. The key policy areas discussed included regulation, labor mobility, productivity, and specific sectoral issues (energy, transportation, etc.). In addition to this examination of key research issues, authors also explore managerial and public policy implications of their findings.

This work explains the theoretical, historical and political background of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), covering its impact and the debates surrounding its existence. The authors also introduce the theory of economic integration and post-war economic management.

Modeling North American Economic Integration presents descriptions of the models and the central results obtained by four teams of economic modelers who analyze the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on the economies of Canada, Mexico and the USA. Preliminary versions of these four modeling efforts were presented at a conference with the same title as the book, held in March 1991 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and sponsored by El Colegio de Mexico and the Institute for Empirical Macroeconomics. The book also includes a Foreword by Jaime Serra-Puche, the former Secretary of Trade and Industrial Development in Mexico and that country's chief negotiator of NAFTA, plus two essays by the editors. The first provides an overview and discussion of the results obtained by the modeling groups, and the second provides a critical survey of the sort of applied general equilibrium model employed by these groups. A final chapter discusses the results of the models in relation to the 1994-95 financial crisis in Mexico.

This is an examination of both the advantages and the problems posed by the notion of a North American economic union. Scholars and government representatives from the United States, Canada and Mexico exchange views and explore not just the economic implications but also the likely social and political consequences of economic integration. A varie

The timing is ripe to pursue greater regional financial integration in Latin America given the withdrawal of some global banks from the region and the weakening of growth prospects. Important initiatives are ongoing to foster financial integration. Failure to capitalize on this would represent a significant missed opportunity. This paper examines the scope for further global and regional financial integration in Latin America, based on economic fundamentals and comparisons to other emerging regions, and quantifies the potential macroeconomic gains that such integration could bring. The analysis suggests that closing the financial integration gap could boost GDP growth be 1⁄4 - 3⁄4 percentage point in these countries, on average.

With growth slowing across much of the Latin America as a result of the end of the commodity supercycle and economic rebalancing in China, as well as fragmentation of the international banking system, policies to stimulate growth are needed. This book examines the financial landscapes of seven Latin American economies—Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay—and makes a case for them to pursue regional financial integration. Chapters set out the benefits to the region of financial integration, the barriers to cross-border activity in banks, insurance companies, pension funds, and capital markets, as well as recommendations to address these barriers. Finally, the volume makes the case that regional integration now could be a step toward global integration in the short term.

Intraregional financial activity in Central America has grown substantially in the past decade, contributing to efficiency and economic development. At the same time, the expansion of activities by regional conglomerates has increased the challenges to supervisory authorities of containing the risks of contagion. Prepared as part of the Central America Financial Sector Regional Project by an IMF and World Bank staff team, this book outlines trends in the region's financial sector integration, supervisory responses, development of the insurance sector, payment and securities settlement arrangements, and worker remittances. It addresses the many common policy challenges facing Central American countries--Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama--in financial sector reform. The book offers key policy recommendations.