In 1993 the negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade were frequently characterized by comments such as, "Free trade with low-wage countries will cause the wages of U.S. workers to fall." Identify the errors in statements such as this
One error is that higher wages do not mean higher per-unit labor costs. The costs of producing a good depend on both labor costs and labor productivity, an area where the United States frequently has a tremendous advantage. A second error stems from the difference between absolute and comparative advantage. High productivity will not allow the United States to produce everything more cheaply, and neither will low wages allow other countries to produce everything more cheaply. Beneficial trade will be based on comparative advantage, not wage rates.
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According to Keynes, the consumption-income relationship is shown as C = a + bYD. Therefore, the saving-income relationship is
a. S = a + (1 ? b)YD. b. S = ? a + (1 ? b)YD. c. S = a + (1 ? b)/YD. d. S = ? a + (1? b)/YD.
Assume that the central bank purchases government securities in the open market. If the nation has highly mobile international capital markets and a flexible exchange rate system, what happens to the quantity of real loanable funds per time period and reserve-related (central bank) transactions in the context of the Three-Sector-Model?
a. There is not enough information to determine what happens to these two macroeconomic variables. b. The quantity of real loanable funds per time period rises, and reserve-related (central bank) transactions remains the same. c. The quantity of real loanable funds per time period rises, and reserve-related (central bank) transactions become more positive (or less negative). d. The quantity of real loanable funds per time period falls, and reserve-related (central bank) transactions become more negative (or less positive). e. The quantity of real loanable funds per time period and reserve-related (central bank) transactions remain the same.
If the value of the domestic currency depreciates:
a. Aggregate demand rises, but aggregate supply does not change. b. Aggregate demand falls and aggregate supply rises. c. Aggregate demand rises and aggregate supply rises. d. Neither aggregate demand nor aggregate supply change. e. Aggregate demand rises and aggregate supply falls.
Normative conclusions
a. come from positive analysis alone. b. are based on ignorance of positive analysis. c. involve value judgments. d. reflect the economist's role as scientist.