"An economy does not always work according to idealized textbook models. Economic systems are frequently subject to wide-ranging distortions and require remedies via subsidy and taxes to restore their social optimum. In The Distorted Economy, Hans C. Blomqvist and Mats Lundahl describe how to tackle the various distortions in goods and factor markets and apply their analytic framework to several case studies, including trade policy of developing countries, apartheid in South Africa and socialist planned economies. The authors offer an important and timely analysis of the causes, effects and resolutions of distortions in the economy."--BOOK JACKET.