EC 239 Introduction to International Trade Instructor: Sharif F. Khan Department of Economics Wilfrid Laurier University Winter 2010 Suggested Solutions to Assignment 2 (Optional) Part B Short Questions B1. Question # 1 of Ch 2 (8th ed. of the textbook) Canada and Australia are (mainly) English-speaking countries with populations that are not too different in size (Canada’s is 60 percent larger). But Canadian trade is twice as large, relative to GDP, as Australia’s. Why should this be the case? We saw that not only is GDP important in explaining how much two countries trade, but also, distance is crucial. Given its remoteness, Australia faces relatively high costs of transporting imports and exports, thereby reducing the attractiveness …show more content…
While this demonstrates that the United States has an absolute advantage in services, this is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for determining comparative advantage. For this determination, the industry ratios are also required. The competitive advantage of any industry depends on both the relative productivities of the industries and the relative wages across industries. Page 2 of 11 Pages B5. Question # 8 of Ch 3 (8th ed. of the textbook) Anyone who has visited Japan know it is an incredibly expensive place; although Japanese workers earn about the same as their U.S. counterparts, the purchasing power of their incomes is about one-third less. Extend your discussion from question 7 (of Chapter 3) to explain this observation. (Hint: Think about wages and the implied prices of nontraded goods.) While Japanese workers may earn the equivalent wages of U.S. workers, the purchasing power of their income is one-third less. This implies that although w = w* (more or less), p < p* (since 3p = p*). Since the United States is considerably more productive in services, service prices are relatively low. This benefits and enhances U.S. purchasing power. However, many of these services cannot be transported and hence, are not traded. This implies that the Japanese may not benefit from the lower U.S. services costs, and do not face an international price which is lower than their domestic price. Likewise, the price of
The economy of Brazil is in the top ten largest economies along with the United States. It is the biggest in Latin America. Actually it is the seventh largest in the world. Brazil has used its newly found economic mechanism to syndicate its outcome in South America and show more of a role in the Global Businesses. The Obama Administration’s National Security Strategy recognizes Brazil as a developing center of effect, and greets the management of the country’s joint and global issues. The United States and Brazil associations mostly have been good in the recent years. But Brazil has other strengthening relations with neighboring countries and expanding ties with nontraditional partners in the South that’s developing.
Edgar, my cousin, is always thinking of the next business idea. His next business idea includes buying to gas stations. He believes that both gas stations would be profitable and allow revenue for him to increase. After recently reading an article named “$4-a-Gallon Gas Fueling Fears for Recovery” I decide to research the market in terms of supply and demand, elasticity, costs of production, pricing, and normal or economic profit or loss. In order to help my cousin Edgar I would like to provide him with the most informed advice possible.
For both scenarios, the firm’s output price and average variable cost are the same. The difference lies in the average total cost. Because the total fixed cost is significantly higher, the average total cost is also significantly higher. It would be highly recommended that the firm shut down if total fixed costs are equal to 3,000,000. In the first scenario, the firm is also losing money. We would recommend laying off ten percent of the staff (5000 employees) to account for the $400,000 loss. However, it is important to note, employee productivity must be increased to 4.44 in order to maintain the 200,000 units per day. This would allow the firm to operate in a break even state.
Smoking is recognised as the largest single preventable cause of death and disease in Australia. It is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, emphysema, bronchitis, asthma, renal disease and eye disease. Tobacco contains the powerfully addictive stimulant nicotine, which can make smoking a regular and long-term habit that is not easy to quit (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014). Statistics show
Your paper should be between 1750 and 2500 words, in APA format and structured as follows:
Humanities: Hamanities classes are all about the human. These types of classes focus on cultural values, history and Art.
This is an article found on the Newsweek Global Periodical by Susan Scutti. In this article, the author discusses about how the One Child Policy amendment changed to two children if the father and mother are only children in their family. Scutti also mentions about the Chinese population, and how China is currently facing too many males than females.
-Mohair farmers have earned a subsidy from the federal government for decades because the mohair farmers can get large payments from the government without taxpayers ever really noticing because the farmers who get the subsidy care a lot about it, while the rest of us taxpayers (paying mere pennies extra in taxes) do not really care. And, “any politician with a preference for job security can calculate that a vote for the mohair subsidy will earn the strong support of the mohair farmers while costing nothing among other voters” (Wheelan 177).
The current economy has hurt many retail businesses. Every month another retail giant closes its doors. Retail stores which we never would have imagined have gone bankrupt. Retail sales have declined greatly. Major cause of this declination is because many people are unemployed and cannot afford to purchase anything. Retailers are forced to discount prices to increase sales, but discounting still hurts margins. Retailers are assuming a very
What is the effect on the equilibrium price and equilibrium quantity of orange juice if the price of apple juice decreases and the wage rate paid to orange grove workers increases?
Evaluate each of the following changes in supply and/or demand. How will each affect equilibrium price and quantity in a competitive market? Will price and quantity rise, fall, or be unchanged? Based on shifts, will the answers be indeterminate?
In the beginning, Mexico had hoped to gain from the agreement by a growth in the national output, falling unemployment rates, and increasing trade with the U.S. The NAFTA has, perhaps, benefited Mexico the most out of all the other two countries. This can perhaps be best reflected in the rapid growth of the Mexican maquiladora industry. “A maquiladora is a labor-intensive organization that imports inputs, often from the United States, and then processes and exports them. Because maquiladoras often link the border economies of U.S. and Mexican cities, these plants have been some of the major beneficiaries of NAFTA. In 1993, Maquiladoras numbered only 2,143. Just six years later, the number of maquiladoras had increased 73% to 3,703” (Fugate 2005). This shows that NAFTA has positively affected the Mexican economy, more than it has any other country.
The United States has an absolute advantage over the technological products and services which are critical. Within the global markets, the U.S has been able to provide tech products and services appropriately. However, it has comparative advantage of offering tech services while the absolute advantage exists in technology design and providing industrial capacity. The U.S is a major exporter in the international markets of products such as civilian aircraft, semiconductors, cars, car accessories, fuel oil, and organic chemicals among others. Such exports improve the U.S's comparative and absolute advantage.
Label these points B. (Look at the case of US and Japan’s export and import). (Each country will export what it specializes and import what it does not specialize)
In the United States, minimum wage has remained at a low number for several years. Minimum wage is defined as the lowest possible income that an employer can legally pay an employee. This ensures that all people are fairly paid and not defrauded by companies or businesses. Minimum wage is considered a price floor and the minimum wage laws determine the lowest price possible that any employer must pay for labor. In an economic model, the quantity of supplied is greater than the quantity demanded and the minimum wage is above equilibrium price and quantity. Minimum wage prevents labor supplied and labor demanded from moving