In an international political economy characterised both by constancy and change, this study, first published in 1996, links together one seemingly incongruous continuity in international trade relations with an increasingly dramatic development in the economies of industrial countries. On the one hand, industrialised countries have become progressively dependent upon one another. On the other hand, the liberal international trade regime has yet to falter. These two points are tied together by seeking to explain the maintenance of liberal trade relations in terms of the mutual economic dependence of industrial countries. In particular, the study examines what may be a fundamental constraint on trade protectionism today: the reliance of industrialised countries on external trade relations, and especially on markets within the industrial world.

Imagine members of Congress who don’t crave media attention. Imagine people who are so beloved within the institution that negative sentiment is non-existent. Finally, imagine folks for whom reaching across the aisle to craft comprehensive legislation is second nature. In Beloved Workhorses, one doesn’t have to imagine. A number of former members of the U.S. House of Representatives encompassed all three traits and thrived. Why? Because they were salt-of-the-earth men and women with remarkable personal stories. Beloved Workhorses portrays them.

The massive inflation and oil crisis of the 1970s damaged Jimmy Carter's presidency. In Jimmy Carter's Economy, Carl Biven traces how the Carter administration developed and implemented economic policy amid multiple crises and explores how a combination of factors beyond the administration's control came to dictate a new paradigm of Democratic Party politics. Jimmy Carter inherited a deeply troubled economy. Inflation had been on the rise since the Johnson years, and the oil crisis Carter faced was the second oil price shock of the decade. In addition, a decline in worker productivity and a rise in competition from Germany and Japan compounded the nation's economic problems. The resulting anti-inflation policy that was forced on Carter included controlling public spending, limiting the expansion of the welfare state, and postponing popular tax cuts. Moreover, according to Biven, Carter argued that the ambitious policies of the Great Society were no longer possible in an age of limits and that the Democratic Party must by economic necessity become more centrist.