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During the first three months of the year, trade fell across the board in 49 U.S. states. Which state managed to buck the trend? Tune into the podcast to find out.
Also on this edition of the podcast: A socialist toy fair in Venezuela, Britain begins labeling food from the West Bank as either Israeli or Palestinian, and young voices in Spain talking about their country’s soaring unemployment rate.
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In South America, politicians and corporate leaders have devised a grand plan for an overland trade route to compete with the Panama Canal. The idea is to move goods from the Pacific to the Atlantic along a chain of ports, highways, and riverways. Reporter Melaina Spitzer followed the route from the Ecuadorian port city of Manta.

“The biggest threat to the system (today): suppose everybody now tries to turn inward… then I think the degree of integration of the global economy, this time, is so large, that it would be extremely difficult, it would just collapse in on itself.” These were the words of economist Barry Bosworth at the Brookings Institution, spoken in January. Are we starting to see protectionism today? Will countries repeat the mistakes of the 1930’s? Listen to the Global Economy Podcast