ECO 202 Module Two Short Paper Guidelines and Rubric
Scenario
For this assignment, assume that American and Japanese workers can each produce four cars per year. An American worker can produce 10 tons of grain per year, while a Japanese worker can produce 5 tons of grain per year. To keep things simple, assume that each country has 100 million workers.
Directions
Using the template provided in the What to Submit section, develop a short paper analyzing the international trade dynamics of the scenario above. Support your answers with sources from the textbook and your own research.
Specifically, address the following:
Production Possibility Frontier (PPF) Model
For the United States, how many workers are needed to make one car? How many are needed to make one ton of grain? For Japan, how many workers are needed to make one car? How many are needed to make one ton of grain? Fill in Table 1 in the template. (See Figure 1 The Production Possibilities Frontier, Mankiw 3-1a: Production Possibilities for an example.)
Insert a production possibilities frontier (PPF) graph from the textbook or a reputable online source (see the Supporting Materials section for tutorials on snipping images) and explain in two to three sentences what a PPF graph demonstrates and how it illustrates the idea of efficiency.
Opportunity Cost
For the United States, what is the opportunity cost of a car? What is the opportunity cost of grain? For Japan, what is the opportunity cost of a car? What is the opportunity cost of grain?
Fill in Table 2 in the template. (See Table 1 The Opportunity Cost of Meat and Potatoes, Mankiw 3-2b: Opportunity Cost and Comparative Advantage for an example.)
Interdependence and Gains From Trade
Which country has an absolute advantage in producing cars? Which country has an absolute advantage in producing grain?
Which country has a comparative advantage in producing cars? Which country has a comparative advantage in producing grain?
Without trade, half of each country’s workers produce cars, and half produce grain. What quantities of cars and grain does each country produce?
Arguments for Trade
Research a current news article on international trade that supports economists’ arguments favoring free trade agreements (FTAs). In what ways is the article supportive of FTAs?
This assignment was adapted from the textbook Principles of Economics (10th edition) by N. G. Mankiw (2024).
What to Submit
Template: Module Two Short Paper Template
Use this template to create and submit your short paper for grading. Sources should be cited according to APA style.