Geography and trade /

Economists periodically rediscover geography and marvel at the ability of its spatially integrative approach to explain apparently complex patterns with almost embarrassing simplicty. Yet the lesson is rarely absorbed. In the first paragraph of this publication of his three prestigious "Gaston Eyskens Lectures" presented in 1990, the distinguished international economist Krugman writes: "about a year ago, I more or less suddenly realized that I have spent my whole life as an international economist thinking and writing about economic geography without being aware of it." To remedy this shortcoming, Krugman delves into the literature of location theory to explain why geographical models should be more widely applied, and to argue that economists should pay more attention to regional scientists and the advanced thinking of economic geographers. Unfortunately, his enthusiasm is called somewhat into question by the fact that his geographic citations in the field include De Geer (1927), McCarty (1940), Hoover (1948), Isard (1956), and Pred (1966), taking little notice of the 25 years of solid work that geographers have produced since then. Krugman's style is literate and engaging, and the inevitable mathematics are largely consigned to appendixes. This is a readable and stimulating book that should open the eyes of many economists to the possibility of geographic contributions. Geographers, however, may well feel faintly partronized by such phrases as "Models of economic geography can be cute and fun." Advanced undergraduate and graduate readers.-J. McDonald, Eastern Michigan University