An internationally acknowledged authority on all aspects of the theory of international trade and payments, this book collects Harry Johnson's contributions to the study of international trade, including a critique of the theory of effective protection. The book discusses:

• the integration of income distribution and other aspects of the economy into the positive theory of tariffs
• the issues raised by the use of tariffs to promote economic development
• the implications of distortions of various kinds in the working of competition for tariff theory and policy
• the costs of protection
• the implications of effective protection for world economic development and the economic effects of trade preferences
• the question of free trade and the extent to which it requires the harmonization other aspects of economic policy.