International Trade Has Benefits for the Consumer, Worker and for Businesses

When a consumer in the UK buys mangoes or bananas, coffee or a bottle of wine, they are experiencing the effects of international trade not only in the products that are on offer but often also in the price of those products.

But it doesn't only apply to the products on the supermarket shelves. Increasingly the flat pack furniture a consumer buys at a competitive price, the clothes and shoes they wear, or the toys they buy for the children all have their origins in another country.

The chances are that the furniture originated in South East Asia, the clothes were made in India, the shoes in Brazil and the toys in China.

The same is true for businesses, who manage their overheads by "offshoring" using call centres in India or the Philippines to manage their communications with customers or potential customers, or having their websites hosted and managed, or their R & D carried out in India.

Forex Trading Vs The Stock Market Trading

Forex trading is trading in the forex market and basically involves trading in currencies while the stock market trading is the trading of stock in a stock exchange market. The two types of trading are similar to some extent, but the differences are numerous as well. Differences range from the risks involved, the parties involved in a transaction, the regulations in the markets, to name just but a few. The stock market is controlled by a central body, the stock exchange market, which typically constitutes a number of brokerage firms that regulate the trading activities and monitor the activities as well. When they sense any unscrupulous activities they are in charge of laying sanctions for the participants in the market. This is not the case with the forex trading market, the market is self regulated and this fact makes the market such a reliable market as the self regulation is very effective. Manipulation in the market is rare as the market is very liquid and the rates there are determined purely by forces of demand and supply.

Commissions and lack of commissions forms the other significant difference between the two markets. The stock market involves the services of brokers and they play a major role in the trading, they actually trade in the market on behalf of their clients and in return they are paid a commission for their services. The forex trading market exhibits a different scenario. There are no brokers in the market. The trading involves only two parties and they are both dealers and they both bear the market risk in the transaction. There are no commissions paid in the market and this means the dealers get to reap the full benefits of the transactions and bag all the profit that accrue from the trading.