Trade Blocs and Trade Wars During the Interwar Period

30 Pages Posted: 7 May 2019

See all articles by David S. Jacks

David S. Jacks

National University of Singapore (NUS), Department of Economics

Dennis Novy

University of Warwick - Department of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); Centre for Economic Performance (CEP); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

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Date Written: May 2019

Abstract

What precisely were the causes and consequences of the trade wars in the 1930s? Were there perhaps deeper forces at work in reorienting global trade prior to the outbreak of World War II? And what lessons may this particular historical episode provide for the present day? To answer these questions, we distinguish between long-run secular trends in the period from 1920 to 1939 related to the formation of trade blocs (in particular, the British Commonwealth) and short-run disruptions associated with the trade wars of the 1930s (in particular, large and widespread declines in bilateral trade, the narrowing of trade imbalances, and sharp drops in average traded distances). We argue that the trade wars mainly served to intensify pre-existing efforts towards the formation of trade blocs which dated from at least 1920. More speculatively, we argue that the trade wars of the present day may serve a similar purpose as those in the 1930s, that is, the intensification of China- and US-centric trade blocs.

Keywords: Commonwealth, distance, Gravity, interwar period, Trade Blocs, trade wars

JEL Classification: F1, F3, N7

Suggested Citation

Jacks, David S. and Novy, Dennis, Trade Blocs and Trade Wars During the Interwar Period (May 2019). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP13716, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3383974

David S. Jacks (Contact Author)

National University of Singapore (NUS), Department of Economics ( email )

Singapore
Singapore

Dennis Novy

University of Warwick - Department of Economics ( email )

Coventry CV4 7AL
United Kingdom
+44 (0) 2476150046 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/faculty/novy/

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) ( email )

Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

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