World Trade Day, edition No. 30, to be held May 20, gives us the opportunity to examine just what effects trade can have on the Ocean State.
The event, produced by Bryant University’s John H. Chafee Center for International Business, attracts hundreds of attendees and speakers from across the globe. And it is, as one would expect, an unabashed advocate for increasing trade.
If we look at the monthly numbers for the Ocean State since the beginning of 1987, we can see that exports from Rhode Island (which in addition to manufactured goods, agricultural goods and mining products include re-exports, which are goods that enter the state and then leave it in substantially the same condition as they arrived) grew more than 600 percent, to $193 million in February 2015.
On the other hand, in that same period, the level of overall economic activity in the Ocean State, as calculated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, increased 57 percent.
As Rhode Island looks for ways to improve its economy, exports obviously should be part of the plan. •
