1. Residents of the nation of Border Kingdom can forgo production of digital televisions and utilize all available resources to produce 300 bottles of high-quality wine per hour. Alternatively, they can forgo producing wine and instead produce 60 digital TVs per hour. In the neighboring country of Coastal Realm, residents can forgo production of digital TVs and use all resources to produce 150 bottles of high-quality wine per hour, or they can forgo wine production and produce 50 digital TVs per hour. In both nations, the opportunity costs of producing the two goods are constant. a. What is the opportunity cost of producing digital TVs in Border Kingdom? Of producing bottles of wine in Border Kingdom?
b. What is the opportunity cost of producing digital TVs in Coastal Realm? Of producing bottles of wine in Coastal Realm?
2. Based on your answers to Problem above, which nation has a comparative advantage in producing digital TVs? Which nation has a comparative advantage in producing bottles of wine?
3. Critics of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) suggest that much of the increase in exports from Mexico to the United States now involves goods that Mexico otherwise would have exported to other nations. Mexican firms choose to export the goods to the United States, the critics argue, solely because the items receive preferential treatment under NAFTA tariff rules. What term describes what these critics are claiming is occurring with regard to U. S.-Mexican trade as a result of NAFTA? Explain your reasoning.
4. Identify whether each of the following items creates a surplus item or a deficit item in the current account of the U. S. balance of payments.
a. A Central European company sells products to a U. S. hobby-store chain.
b. Japanese residents pay a U. S. travel company to arrange hotel stays, ground transportation, and tours of various U. S. cities, including New York, Chicago, and Orlando.
c. A Mexican company pays a U. S. accounting firm to audit its income statements.
d. U. S. churches and mosques send relief aid to Pakistan following a major earthquake in that nation.
e. A U. S. microprocessor manufacturer purchases raw materials from a Canadian firm.
5. Explain how the following events would affect the market for the Mexican peso, assuming a floating exchange rate.
a. Improvements in Mexican production technology yield superior guitars, and many musicians around the world buy these guitars.
b. Perceptions of political instability surrounding regular elections in Mexico make international investors nervous about future business prospects in Mexico.
6. Explain how the following events would affect the market for South Africa?s currency, the rand, assuming a floating exchange rate.
a. A rise in U. S. inflation causes many U. S. residents to seek to buy gold, which is a major South African export good, as a hedge against inflation.
b. Major discoveries of the highest-quality diamonds ever found occur in Russia and Central Asia, causing a significant decline in purchases of South African diamonds.