I'm reading the book, "Europe Between Revolutions, 1815-1848", by
Jacques Droz, and just learned that the Prussians developed a kind
of free trade zone (maybe not exactly free) called the Customs Union,
or Zollverein. In the process, they absorbed other such associations
that had sprung up in reaction to the Zollverein. Droz doesn't go into
much detail about how they worked, but I have the impression that they
involved regulating borders and tariffs, rather than eliminating tariffs.
Anyway, this is the first time I've heard of any antecedents of the
contem****ary free trade zones, such as NAFTA and the EU, other than
the one that, in effect, existed between the states of the US under
the Constitution. I'm not sure whether the Zollverein should be compared
to the European Union or to the World Trade Organization. At any rate, now
that I have seen one antecedent, I'm curious to know where I might read
about the history of such associations between groups of countries.
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler <ara@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions
and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near
Boston.
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