Abstract: This essay begins with a discussion of the Samuelson-Stolper Theorem, which states that if a labor-abundant country is opened to trade with a labor-scarce country, laborers in the first country and the employers in the second will profit at the expense of the workers in the second country and the employers in the first. It then looks at the trade following World War II under the supervision of the newly created guardians of the world trading system: the World Bank, the IMF, and the GATT, as well as trade liberalization in Mexico, Latin America, and Asia. It discusses the issue of reputation: what it means to countries and how it determines what a country ends up exporting to the world.

Keywords: international trade, high trade theory, Samuelson-Stolper Theorem, inequality, liberalization, reputation,