Free Trade Expert, Historian of Economics Leads TAMIU CSWHT

Keeping with its mission to promote research on globalization with special emphasis on the Western Hemisphere, the Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) Center for the Study of Western Hemispheric Trade (CSWHT) has named Dr. Stephen Meardon director for the Center.

Dr. Meardon’s expertise is in history, politics and the theory of international trade.

“My aim is to show how new economic ideas, and new alignments of free trade and protectionist doctrines with international trade deals, have been forged in circumstances where the correct application of the doctrines is ambiguous or seemingly inexpedient,” Meardon said.

The Center is part of the TAMIU A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business. It is a leading research facility that, along with its allied components and key contact throughout the Western Hemisphere, provides current and relevant information about issues dealing with trade and commerce which affect its constituents in the Hemisphere.

“Much of my research examines how economic doctrines of free trade and protection treat the problem of ‘reciprocity:’  the attempt to secure a level footing with trade partners using a range of instruments, including treaties, executive agreements, countervailing duties and implicit bargains,” Meardon explained.

He has an extensive background and expertise in Latin America. Most recently during Fall 2016, he was Fulbright Chair of U.S. Studies at the Universidad de las Américas Puebla, México.

Previously, he was a Fulbright scholar and lecturer at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia in 2008, and a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for the History of Political Economy at Duke University, 2011-2012. During Spring 2014, he was a visiting faculty member at the Universidad EAFIT in Medellín, Colombia. In 2013, he was named editor of the Journal of the History of Economic Thought.

He graduated from Bowdoin College with a B.A. in economics, magna cum laude. He received a master’s degree and Ph.D. in economics from Duke University. He also holds a certificate from the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education Program, “Mastering Trade Policy.”

The Center's research focuses on subjects that affect Western Hemispheric Trade, including trade agreements, tariffs, customs, regional and national economies, politics, business development, finance, the environment and culture. Its activities include the publication of The International Trade Journal, the International Bank of Commerce Keynote Speaker Series, and the annual Western Hemispheric Trade Conference.

For additional information, contact the TAMIU Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at 956.326.2180, email prmis@tamiu.edu, click on tamiu.edu or visit offices in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, room 268.