帕金经济学第9版课件Ch07-9e-lecture.pptVIP

How Global Markets Work Because we trade with people in other countries, the goods and services that we can buy and consume are not limited by what we can produce. Imports are the good and services that we buy from people in other countries. Exports are the goods and services we sell to people in other countries. How Global Markets Work International Trade Today Global trade today is enormous. In 2008, global exports and imports were $35 trillion, which is more than half the value of global production. In 2008, total U.S exports were $1.8 trillion, which is about 13 percent of the value of U.S. production. In 2008, total U.S. imports were $2.5 trillion, which is about 18 percent of the value of U.S. production. Services were about 30 percent of total U.S. exports and 16 percent of total U.S. imports. How Global Markets Work What Drives International Trade? The fundamental force that generates trade between nations is comparative advantage. The basis for comparative trade is divergent opportunity costs between countries. National comparative advantage as the ability of a nation to perform an activity or produce a good or service at a lower opportunity cost than any other nation. How Global Markets Work The opportunity cost of producing a T-shirt is lower in China than in the United States, so China has a comparative advantage in producing T-shirts. The opportunity cost of producing an airplane is lower in the United States than in China, so the United States has a comparative advantage in producing airplanes. Both countries can reap gains from trade by specializing in the production of the good at which they have a comparative advantage and then trading. Both countries are better off. International trade lowers the price of an imported good and raises the price of an exported good. Buyers of imported goods benefit from lower prices and sellers of exported goods benefit from higher prices. But some people complain about international competition: not everyone gains