Trade liberalisation can enhance the economic welfare of all trade partners, but in adjusting to greater competition, many import- competing firms and workers face difficult problems. Since 1962, Congress has responded to these adjustment costs by authorising trade adjustment assistance (TAA) programs for workers, firms, and farmers, and continues to monitor their performance and amend the governing legislation. This book discusses the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms (TAAF) program, which provides technical assistance to trade- affected firms to help them develop strategies to remain competitive in a dynamic international economy. Legislation has been introduced in the 113th Congress that would reauthorise TAA programs, which are set to expire on December 31, 2013. President Obama also has supported TAA reauthorisation, linking it to renewal of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA).

The Rise of the Entrepreneurial State charts the development of state and local government initiatives to influence the market and strengthen economic development policies. This trend marked a decisive break from governments' traditionally small role in the affairs of private industry that defined the relationship between the public and private sector for the first half of the twentieth century. The turn to state and local government intervention signaled a change in subnational politics that, in many ways, transcended partisan politics, regional distinctions ,and racial alliances. Eisinger's meticulous research uncovers state and local governments' transition from supply-side to demand-side strategies of market creation. He shows that, instead of relying solely on the supply-side strategies of tax breaks and other incentives to encourage business relocation, some governments promoted innovation and the creation of new business approaches.