We describe the main economic arguments posed for and against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during the U.S. policy debate. To evaluate these arguments, we analyze recent trade data and survey post-NAFTA studies. We find that both the U.S. and Mexico benefit from NAFTA, with much larger relative benefits for Mexico. NAFTA also has had little effect on the U.S. labor market. These results confirm the consensus opinion of economists at the time of the debate. Finally, studies find that trade creation greatly exceeds trade diversion in the region under NAFTA, especially in intermediate goods.

Computable general equilibrium (CGE) models are widely used by governmental organizations and academic institutions to analyze the economy-wide effects of events such as climate change, tax policies and immigration. This book provides a practical, how-to guide to CGE models suitable for use at the undergraduate college level. Its introductory level distinguishes it from other available books and articles on CGE models. The book provides intuitive and graphical explanations of the economic theory that underlies a CGE model and includes many examples and hands-on modeling exercises. It may be used in courses on economics principles, microeconomics, macroeconomics, public finance, environmental economics and international trade and finance, because it shows students the role of theory in a realistic model of an economy. The book is also suitable for courses on general equilibrium models and research methods and for professionals interested in learning how to use CGE models.

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C A U.S.-Mexico agreement to form a free trade area (FTA) is analyzed using an 11-sector, three-country, computable general equilibrium (CGE) model that explicitly models farm programs and labor migration. The model also uses a flexible functional form for specifying sectoral import demand functions, which is an empirical improvement over earlier specifications using a constant elasticity of substitution (CES) function. The model identifies the trade-offs among bilateral trade growth, labor migration, and agricultural program expenditures under alternative FTA scenarios. Trade liberalization in agriculture greatly increases rural-urban migration within Mexico and migration from Mexico to the U.S. Migration is reduced if Mexico grows relative to the U.S. and also if Mexico retains farm support programs. However, the more support that is provided to the Mexican agricultural sector, the smaller is bilateral trade growth.

This book provides an accessible, undergraduate-level introduction to computable general equilibrium (CGE) models, a class of model that has come to play an important role in government policy decisions. The book uses a graphical approach to explain the economic theory that underlies a CGE model, and provides results from simple, small-scale CGE models to illustrate the links between theory and model outcomes. The book includes eleven guided, hands-on exercises that introduce modeling techniques that are applied to real-world economic problems. Students will learn how to integrate their separate fields of economic study into a comprehensive, general equilibrium perspective as they develop their skills as producers or consumers of CGE-based analysis.