International Economics Is Different

International Economics Is Different The introduction to the subject of international economics has three major purposes: Show that international economics addresses important and interesting current events and issues. Show why international economics is special. Provide a broad overview of the book. We begin with four controversies that show the importance of current issues addressed by international economics.

The Basic Theory Using Demand and Supply

The Basic Theory Using Demand and Supply This chapter indicates why we study theories of international trade and presents the basic theory using supply and demand curves. Trade is important to individual consumers, to workers and other factor owners, to firms, and therefore to the whole economy. The box “Trade Is Important” provides useful data about the types of products traded and the increasing role of trade in national economies.

Why Everybody Trades: Comparative Advantage

Why Everybody Trades: Comparative Advantage This chapter extends the analysis of international trade to consider trade in a multiple-product economy. An economy composed of two products is useful to bring out insights about international trade. This general equilibrium approach explicitly shows the effects of resource reallocations between industries. The chapter culminates in showing the importance of comparative advantage for understanding why countries trade.

Trade: Factor Availability and Factor Proportions Are Key

Trade: Factor Availability and Factor Proportions Are Key This chapter continues the analysis of international trade in a two-product economy. It picks up from the end of Chapter 3, where it was noted that the assumption of constant marginal cost and the implication that countries will completely specialize in producing only one (or a few) product(s) are unrealistic. In the modern theory of international trade, we use the assumption of increasing marginal costs—as one industry expands at the expense of others, increasing amounts of other goods must be given up to obtain each extra unit of the expanding output.

Who Gains and Who Loses from Trade?

Who Gains and Who Loses from Trade? This chapter has two major purposes. First, it examines the implications for factor incomes of trade that follows the Heckscher-Ohlin (H-O) theory. Second, it examines the empirical evidence on the Heckscher-Ohlin theory and some of its implications. The implications of H-O trade for factor incomes follow from the pressures for changes in production levels as a country shifts from no trade to free trade.

Scale Economies, Imperfect Competition, and Trade

Scale Economies, Imperfect Competition, and Trade Standard trade theory presented in Chapters 3-5 is based on perfect competition, with constant returns to scale at the level of the individual firm and constant or increasing cost of expanding production at the level of the industry. Comparative advantage predicts that countries will trade with other countries that are different (the source of the comparative cost differences) and that each country will export some products and import other, quite different products.