As the economic role of multinational，global corpora-tions expands，the international economic environment will be shaped increasingly not by governments or international institutions，but by the interaction between governments and global corporations， especially in the United States，Europe，and J A significant factor in this shifting world economy is the trend toward regional trading biocs of nations，which has a potentially large effect on the evolution of the world trading Two examples of this trend are the United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement （FTA）and Europe 1992，the move by the European Community （EC）to dismantle impediments to the free flow of goods，services，capital，and labor among member states by the end of However， although numerous political and economic factors were operative in launching the move to integrate the EC‘s markets，concern about protectionism within the EC does not appear to have been a major This is in sharp contrast to the FTA，the overwhelming reason for that bilateral initiative was fear of increasing United States None-theless，although markedly different in origin and nature，both regional developments are highly significant in that they will foster integration in the two largest and richest markets of the world，as well as provoke questions about the future direction of the world trading
