The U.S. Economy and
"Global Imbalances"
A
Talk and
Discussion With
Robert Blecker, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Economics
American University
Friday April 9, 2010
4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Mandel Center for NonProfit Organizations, Room
108
11402 Bellflower Road
Case
Western Reserve University
The global recession appears to have greatly exacerbated a decade-long decline in the U.S.
manufacturing sector. A huge U.S. trade imbalance with China leads to two kinds of claims:
that the world economy is out of balance because of China's refusal to revalue its currency,
and that the world economy is unbalanced because of U.S. budget deficits. Other analysts
claim that unbalanced overall consumption (too much in some places, too little in others) or
wage levels explain economic trends in the U.S. and Europe. Whichever theory you choose,
most serious analyses argue that the future of the U.S. economy depends on the changing
place of the U.S. within the world economy.
Professor Blecker studies international trade from the perspective of both the U.S. and developing
economies. He received his B.A. from Yale and M.A. and Ph.D. from Stanford, in addition to doing
further graduate work at El Colegio de Mexico. In addition to his position at AU, he is also a Research
Associate with the Economic Policy Institute.
Presented by the Center for Policy Studies,
For further information:
http://policy.case.edu,
padg@case.edu, 216 368-2426
| Additional Information About Our Guest |
Robert A. Blecker is Professor of Economics and Chair of the Department of Economics at
American University, Washington, DC, where he teaches courses on international economics,
macroeconomics, and political economy. He is also Affiliated Faculty of the School of
International Service at American University, a Research Associate at the Economic Policy Institute (Washington,
DC), a Senior Research Fellow of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (Washington,
DC), and a Research Scholar at the Political Economy Research Institute (University of
Massachusetts, Amherst, MA). He is a member of the editorial boards of the International
Review of Applied Economics and Investigación Económica. His books include
Fundamentals of
U.S. Foreign Trade Policy: Economics, Politics, Laws, and Issues (co-authored with Stephen D.
Cohen and Peter D. Whitney, 2nd edition, Westview, 2003); Taming Global Finance: A Better
Architecture for Growth and Equity (Economic Policy Institute, 1999), and
U.S. Trade Policy
and Global Growth (edited volume, M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 1996). His articles have appeared in
numerous refereed journals, including the Cambridge Journal of Economics,
Economica,
International Review of Applied Economics, International Journal of Political Economy,
Journal
of Development Studies, Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Review of Development
Economics, Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv (Review of
World Economics), and World Development, as well as in edited books and conference volumes
published by Cambridge University Press, University of Michigan Press, Routledge, and
Edward
Elgar (among others). His research includes work on alternative (post-Keynesian and neo- Kaleckian) macroeconomic theories, open economy macroeconomics, economic integration in
North America, the value of the dollar and the U.S. trade deficit, the Mexican economy, North-
South trade, the limits to export-led growth strategies in developing countries, and trade policy in
the U.S. steel industry. Professor Blecker received his B.A. in economics from Yale University
in 1978 and his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University in 1983 and 1987,
respectively. He was also a non-matriculated student in the Master’s program in economics at El
Colegio de México in 1978-79 under a Fulbright scholarship.
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