High Tech States: Still trading among ourselves

from NewsLink, Vol. 4, No. 4, Summer 2000

 

 

Just how important are exports to a state’s economy? Judging from the mainstream press, one would think that globalization and international trade are the most dominant elements accounting for growth in a state’s economy. But even with the passage of NAFTA and other free trade agreements, the overwhelming portion of a state’s economy depends on sales within the U.S. This should come as no surprise. According to John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, authors of A Future Perfect, people are more likely to trade with their fellow nationals than with foreign countries. In Europe, they note, people are six times more likely to trade within their own borders than with other nations that make up the European Union. The most recently available Gross State Product statistics bear this out for the U.S. Massachusetts, which has emphasized its high tech sector and foreign trade, increased its ratio of exports to GSP by only 1.3 percentage points between 1993 and 1997

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