Sugar cane production in Brazil

Brazil can produce one sugar cane unit for one unit of labor and one iPod for eight units of labor, while China can produce one sugar cane unit for two units of labor and one iPod for four units of labor. Which of the following statements is correct?

Brazil should specialize in sugar cane, while China should specialize in iPods.

Jill and Jack both work in a bakery. Jack will decorate 5 ice cream cakes or 2 wedding cakes in an hour. Jill will decorate four ice cream cakes or one wedding cake in an hour. Which of the following results will help both Jack and Jill the most in this scenario? Jill specializes in decorating ice-cream cakes and Jack specializes in decorating wedding cakes.

Use the following to answer questions 3-4:

Figure: PPF Mexico & United States

3. (Figure: PPF Mexico & United States) Use the figure in which both Mexico and the United States each have 24 units of labor. The opportunity costs of producing one computer are:

six shirts for Mexico and one shirt for the United States.

4. (Figure: PPF Mexico & United States) Use the above figure in which both Mexico and the United States each have 24 units of labor. Mexico has a comparative advantage in ______ and the United States has a comparative advantage in ______.

shirts; computers

5. Only a very small portion of people who use microwaves know how they work. This is an example of:

division of knowledge.

6. If labor in China is less productive than labor in the United States in all areas of production, then:

the United States can benefit from trade but not China

7. The reason why Martha Stewart does not iron her own clothes is that: A) she has never learned how to iron.

her opportunity cost of ironing exceeds the person’s wages providing the ironing service.

8. Conan O’Brien hosts the Conan show and Andy Richter, his sidekick, writes for it. Conan needs 4 hours to rehearse and host a good show. It takes Andy 10 hours to do the same. Conan writes one usable joke in an hour, but Andy needs 2 hours to do the same. From these numbers, we infer that Conan has an absolute advantage in the production of:

both show hosting and joke writing.

9. Conan O’Brien hosts the Conan show and Andy Richter, his sidekick, writes for it. Conan needs 4 hours to rehearse and host a good show. It takes Andy 10 hours to do the same. Conan writes one usable joke in an hour, but Andy needs 2 hours to do the same.

If each party produces according to his comparative advantage: A) Andy will host and Conan will write.

Conan will host and Andy will write.

Use the following to answer questions 10-11:

Figure: Comparative Advantage

10. (Figure: Comparative Advantage) The figure illustrates both the U.S. and Japanese production possibilities frontiers for TVs and wheat. Based on this information, which of the following is TRUE?

The United States has the comparative advantage in the production of wheat.

Japan has the absolute advantage in the production of TVs.

11. (Figure: Comparative Advantage) The figure illustrates both the U.S. and Japanese production possibilities frontiers for TVs and wheat. Based on this information, which of the following is TRUE?

The opportunity cost of producing a TV in Japan is 2 bushels of wheat.

12. In many universities, graduate students are employed to teach introductory undergraduate courses, even though the full professors at these universities have more experience and could potentially teach these courses better. Which of the following best explains why universities choose to hire graduate students instead of full professors to teach their introductory courses?

Graduate students are cheaper.

13. The development of shipping containers enabled companies to move freight quickly between ships, trucks, and trains by loading a single large container with many different goods and then moving the container. Before the container, freight had to be loaded and unloaded one palette, barrel, or box at a time. What impact did the shipping container have on globalization? Why?

an increase, because it decreased transportation costs

14. Trade creates value because:

idle resources are put to use.

15. Trade makes people better off when:

people have different preferences.

16. If each of us had to grow all of our own food:

civilization would collapse and billions of people would starve.

17. Roses grown in Kenya travel to Amsterdam and ultimately to your local flower shop because:

markets coordinate the specialization and trade necessary for the flower industry to function.

18. Economies can grow due to:

the extent to which markets facilitate specialization through trade.

19. Comparative advantage is determined by which of the following?

efficiency

20. The fundamental idea behind the production possibilities frontier is: A) the idea of absolute advantage.

the trade-offs that exist in production.