As recently as 30 years ago, products were assembled in one country, using inputs from that same country. Measuring trade was thus easy. 2011 is very different. Manufacturing is driven by global supply chains, while most imports should be stamped “made globally”, not “made in China”, or similar. This is not an academic distinction. With trade imbalance causing friction between leading economies, the measures we use can gravely exacerbate geopolitical tensions at a time when co-operation is more vital than ever.
直到30年前,產品在一個國家組裝,采用的零部件還是自同一個個國家。因此,計算貿易額很容易。2011年卻是另一番景象。制造活動受到全球供應鏈的推動,而大多數進口商品都應貼上“全球制造”的標簽,而非“中國制造”或者其他類似標簽。這不是一種學術差異。鑒于貿易失衡引發了主要經濟體之間的摩擦,在當前這個比以往任何時候都更需要合作的時候,我們采用的計算方法可能會大大加劇地緣政治緊張關系。