International trade
-
Upload
ryan-franks -
Category
Documents
-
view
197 -
download
0
description
Transcript of International trade
Previously, we talked about…
How trade can benefit people Comparative advantage being the
core of beneficial trade An introduction of international
trade
Today:More on international trade
Review of comparative advantage Examining consumption possibilities
Without trade With trade
Supply and demand analysis of trade Tariffs and Quotas “Outsourcing”
Review of comparative advantage
Recall the principle of comparative advantage “Everyone does best when each
person (or each country) concentrates on the activities for which his or her opportunity cost is lowest.” (F/B p. 39)
Today, we will apply this concept on a countrywide scale
Comparative advantage: Same numbers, different names
Productivity in pizza
production
Productivity in salad production
United States
20 pizzas cooked per
hour
10 salads made per hour
Chile 16 pizzas cooked per
hour
4 salads made per hour
Comparative advantage
Recall: To find comparative advantage for each person, find the lowest number in each column
Opportunity cost of cooking
a pizza
Opportunity cost of making a salad
U.S. ½ salad 2 pizzas
Chile ¼ salad 4 pizzas
Recall increasing opportunity cost
Opportunity cost increases as production increases within each country Each country uses its best pizza
maker to make its first pizzas Then, the next best pizza maker is
used, etc. The same applies to salads
Production possibilities curve
Recall from last lecture that all of the points along PGQ are the efficient points of the production possibilities curve
Recall that this shape occurs due to increasing opportunity costs as more is produced
Production possibilities curve
Without trade, only points along arc PGQ (or points between this arc and the origin) can be consumed
We will see that gains can be made by trade
The world market In the world market, there is an
equilibrium price (based on world supply and world demand)
Any one country that enters or exits the market usually does not change the market price much For ease of discussion, assume that
entry or exit by any one country does not change the world price
Consumption possibilities curve If we produce at
point G, we can trade goods at the given market price
Production at G (with trade) Consumption anywhere along FGH
Which consumption possibility curve is best? We could
produce at one of the red dots before we start trading
However, note that there are fewer consumption sets possible than producing at G
Optimal production in an open economy Since the red line is
suboptimal, we will not utilize it
Similarly, any point except G will produce a similar result to the red line
Suboptimal consumption possibilities for any production except G
Optimal production in an open economy Solution
Produce such that the “line of trade possibilities” is tangent to the production possibilities curve
In this case, point G is tangent to line FGH
Supply and demand analysis of trade
As we just analyzed, we saw that total surplus goes up when world trade is possible
However, we will see that there are winners and losers to trade Note that the winners’ gain is larger
than the losers’ loss
Market for cars, with trade Notice that the
world price for cars is $10,000
At this price, notice that 20,000 cars will be supplied and 60,000 cars will be demanded in this market
Market for cars, with trade What will happen?
This is unlike the case of rent control, since the shortage is picked up by the world market
20,000 domestic cars will be purchased
40,000 foreign cars will be purchased
Imports
Surplus with trade Consumer
surplus increases substantially
Producer surplus decreases, but does not change as much as consumer surplus does
Imports
A similar exercise can be done for a country that is a net exporter
When a country is a net exporter, the world price is above what it would be if trade was not possible Consumer surplus decreases when
trade occurs Producer surplus increases when
trade occurs Overall, total surplus increases
Tariffs, quotas, and bailouts Even when trade is not prohibited, countries
use other devices to control the amount of a particular good imported
Tariff Tax that must be paid for each unit of the good
imported Quota
A binding limit set on the amount of a good that can be imported
Bailouts: An example with U.S. automakers Subsidized loans See additional reading on class website
What happens when we impose a tariff? In this case, the
tariff imposed is $1000 per ton of sugar imported
We will see that some potential economic surplus is lost when the tariff is imposed
What happens when we impose a tariff?
With a tariff, the price paid by consumers is the world price plus the amount of the tariff Think of a tariff just like a tax
This increases the quantity supplied domestically and decreases the amount imported
What happens when we impose a tariff? Quantity
supplied domestically increases
Imports decrease
Before, 100 tons minus 20 tons, or 80 tons
After, 80 tons minus 40 tons, or 40 tons
Total surplus and tariff money collected Consumer
surplus (CS) Producer
surplus (PS) Tariff revenue
generated What is
missing?
Total surplus and tariff money collected CS PS Tariffs What is
missing? Two triangles
are lost with the imposition of tariffs
Total surplus and tariff money collected
The two triangles lost are potential surplus that could be gained
Notice that relative to open global trade, producer surplus is higher
Consumer surplus is lower with the tariff (relative to open global trade)
Voluntary export restraints (VERs) 1970s
Many American consumers bought fuel-efficient Japanese cars
1980s VERs agreed to between US and Japan U.S. auto makers benefited by decreased
competition Japanese auto makers benefited by being
able to raise their prices U.S. consumers lost by having to pay more
for all cars purchased
Quotas Quotas are similar
to tariffs, except: Domestic supply
plus quota determines supply available in a country’s market
Equilibrium in this example is price of 125, 80,000 TV’s
What else is different with quotas?
With quotas, no revenues are directly generated Those with right to import and export
gain economic rents
The U.S. automaker bailout
Bad decision making CAFE standards
What did fuel economy standards lead to?
Minivans SUVs
Bankruptcy for some U.S. automakers in the near future?
“Outsourcing”
“Outsourcing” has been a controversial term in the media in recent years
There are definitely short-run costs of outsourcing Displaced workers Buildings and machinery that gets
unused
“Outsourcing”
Long-run benefits of outsourcing Each country can specialize what it
has comparative advantage in Technological improvements lower
the costs of trade Lower costs to consumers
How to make sure your job does not get outsourced
Make sure it requires a lot of face-to-face contact Construction work Automobile repair Health care
Make sure that you have skills that nobody else has
Final thoughts about “outsourcing” Trade policy can be formed such that those
that are displaced are not any worse off Some of the gains from “making the pie
bigger” can be transferred to those that get displaced
Justification for re-training programs for displaced workers
Overall, the standard of living of a country improves with trade Example: Think how much bananas would cost
if we could not import them
Summary Trade improves overall surplus
Some people win, while others lose Trade barriers, such as
protectionism, quotas, and tariffs limit the gains from trade
Outsourcing has short-run costs but long-run benefits in a country’s economy
Upcoming attractions For the next month, we will examine
market failures and some economic fields Market failures: Monopoly, oligopoly,
monopolistic competition, externalities, cost of information, private provision of public goods
Fields Some potential topics: Labor, Income distribution,
Environment, Health/Safety, Public Good analysis