Defying gravity: The Imperial Economic Conference and the reorientation of Canadian trade

In the wake of the Great Depression, the Canadian government embarked on a stunning reversal in its commercial policy. A key element of its response was the promotion of intra-imperial trade at the Imperial Economic Conference of 1932. This paper addresses whether or not Canada was able to defy gravity and divert trade flows towards other signatories at Ottawa. The results suggest that the conference was a failure from this perspective. Potential sources of this failure include unreasonable expectations about the likely reductions in trade costs and a neglect of key considerations related to certainty and credibility.