1. You have one semester left to graduate and you have the finances to do a maximum of four courses. Three of the courses are required courses. The last course slot belongs to an elective. You have narrowed down your choices to three electives, all of which are very popular and very useful courses that you are very interested in. Decide on the course you want to take. Then using at least two economic decision-making principles, explain why you are making this choice.
Develop a response that includes examples and evidence to support your ideas, and which clearly communicates the required message to your audience. Organize your response in a clear and logical manner as appropriate for the genre of writing. Use well-structured sentences, audience-appropriate language, and correct conventions of standard American English.
2. Here are some hypothetical numbers used to illustrate the ideas of trade-offs, specialization, and comparative advantage. Assume Sri Lanka, using all her resources efficiently, can produce either 1,000 bags of rice OR 3,000 bags of tea. Let’s also assume that, using all her resources efficiently, Kenya can produce either 1,000 bags of rice OR 1,000 bags of tea. Further, assume that the countries have similar resource endowments and that, initially, they are not trading with each other. Therefore, each of the countries has to produce both rice and tea for its citizens. Suppose that, in the no-trade situation, Sri Lanka was consuming 400 bags of rice and 1,800 bags of tea, and in the no-trade situation, Kenya was consuming 500 bags of rice and 500 bags of tea.
Now, let’s play a fun game called the “Trading Game” to figure out whether there is any benefit (in terms of increased consumption possibilities) for these two countries if they trade with each other. You are given the following information to start the “Trading Game”. The trading price is set at one bag of rice for two bags of tea, and Kenya wishes to keep at least 550 bags of rice after trade.
Apply your knowledge of opportunity cost to identify the comparative advantage enjoyed by each country. Now using your knowledge of specialization and trade, show in a multi-paragraph essay, that the two countries can benefit by consuming more of both goods after trade.
Develop a response that includes examples and evidence to support your ideas, and which clearly communicates the required message to your audience. Organize your response in a clear and logical manner as appropriate for the genre of writing. Use well-structured sentences, audience-appropriate language, and correct conventions of standard American English.
3. Here are four individuals telling you their stories of how they became unemployed. In a multi-paragraph essay, apply the theories of unemployment to explain the type of unemployment that each of these individuals is facing and explain which of these individuals qualifies for unemployment benefits:
Two months ago, Marcelle used to work full time in an automobile manufacturing firm. “The factory where I used to work has closed because our market contracted so much, and so I was laid off. This is happening to people all over the country-all you see in the papers is that economic growth has fallen and incomes across the country have fallen. I have been looking very hard for a new job, but have had no luck yet.”
Until last week, Dominic used to work full time as a hair-dresser in downtown Cincinnati. “I decided to quit my job, because I want to move to New York City.”
Until last month, Francine worked part time at a ski resort. “Well, it is summer now, and so the resort is closed. I will apply again in the winter when the snow is back. I am not interested in working until then.”
Two months ago, Beauvoir had been working full time as a secretary. “I was a good typist, but I don’t know how to use a computer. My boss wanted to upgrade the office to computers, and so I was replaced by someone who is computer-savvy. I have been looking for another job, but it appears that I need to learn some computer skills.”
Develop a response that includes examples and evidence to support your ideas, and which clearly communicates the required message to your audience. Organize your response in a clear and logical manner as appropriate for the genre of writing. Use well-structured sentences, audience-appropriate language, and correct conventions of standard American English.
