International Economics, 7e (Gerber)
Chapter 1 The United States in a Global Economy
1.1 Introduction: International Economic Integration
1) There are no questions for this section.
Topic: Introduction: International Economic Integration
1.2 Elements of International Economic Integration
1) Countries such as the United States that have large populations tend to have
A) higher trade-to-GDP ratios.
B) lower trade-to-GDP ratios.
C) relatively greater capital outflows.
D) relatively smaller capital outflows.
2) The trade-to-GDP ratio for a nation that had $600 million in exports, $400 million in imports,
and GDP of $2,000 million would be
A) 0.1.
B) 0.2.
C) 0.5.
D) -0.1.
3) The trade-to-GDP ratio is calculated by
A) exports divided by GDP.
B) imports divided by GDP.
C) exports plus imports divided by GDP.
D) exports minus imports divided by GDP.
4) A relative measure of the importance of trade is
A) the dollar value of trade.
B) trade as a percentage of GDP.
C) the dollar value of trade adjusted for inflation.
D) trade as a percentage of investment.
5) An important factor that increased international capital flows in the latter part of the 1800s
was
A) the creation of the International Monetary Fund.
B) the creation of numerous regional trade agreements.
C) the rapid rate of East Asian economic growth.
D) technological innovations.
6) Labor mobility was
A) less in 1900 than in 2010.
B) unimportant to global integration until the 1960s.
C) greater in 1900 than in 2010.
D) never controversial.
7) A major impact of the transatlantic telegraph was
A) a reduction in time required to complete a financial transaction between New York and
London
B) an increase in labor flows across the Atlantic.
C) a decrease in trade barriers between the United States and Europe.
D) an increase in trade conflicts between the United States and Europe.
8) The trade-to-GDP ratio for the United States reached its lowest point of the last 100 years
A) around 1970.
B) around World War II.
C) around World War I.
D) around 2008.
9) Countries that have high rates of savings also have
A) high rates of investment.
B) low rates of investment.
C) stock market bubbles.
D) low rates of growth.
10) Since the end of World War II,
A) world trade has grown more slowly than world GDP in the same time period.
B) world trade has grown more slowly than during the years leading up to World War II.
C) the trade-to-GDP ratios of most countries have fallen.
D) world trade has grown more rapidly than world output.
11) One of the reasons we know that international labor mobility has been higher at other times
is because
A) the percent of our population that was foreign born was higher.
B) wages were lower.
C) labor was important in agriculture.
D) the population was younger.
12) One important difference between the international economy of today and the economy of
100 years ago is
A) that labor is much more mobile.
B) for the first time, technological innovations have reduced the barrier of distance.
C) for the first time, capital is mobile.
D) the presence of international bodies such as the IMF and World Bank.
13) One of the distinguishing characteristics of capital mobility today is that
A) there are far more kinds of financial instruments than there were 100 years ago.
B) nations are no longer dependent on their own national savings for their investment funds.
C) the bulk of foreign capital flows are tied to labor flows.
D) currency markets play a less significant role than they did in the past.
14) Which of the following is FALSE?
A) Capital flows today are larger mainly because economies are larger.
B) The last two decades are the first time in history that a nation has borrowed more than 10
percent of its GDP.
C) There are important qualitative differences between capital flows today and in the past.
D) Today most international financial transactions involve buying and selling assets
denominated in foreign currencies.
15) Your text mentions several ways that international trade flows are qualitatively different than
they were a century ago. Which of the following is NOT one of those ways?
A) Firms’ investment spending on capital goods is more important than in the past.
B) International trade in raw commodities and agricultural products is more important than it was
in the past.
C) It is possible to trade some types of services in a way that was not possible in the past.
D) Multinational corporations play a bigger role in production than they did in the past.
16) Financial capital flows could include
A) real estate purchases.
B) construction of factories.
C) the purchase of the physical assets and operations of a multinational corporation by another.
D) currency market transactions.
17) An example of a foreign direct investment (FDI) would include
A) a U.S. couple buying land for their dream retirement home in Costa Rica.
B) a U.S. mutual fund manager buying shares of stock in a Brazilian oil company.
C) a U.S. firm expanding its U.S. operations.
D) a wealthy Mexican buying U.S. Treasury bills.
18) All of the following are differences in capital flows today from the past, EXCEPT
A) the increasing variety of financial instruments.
B) the larger number of companies listed on world stock exchanges.
C) the need to protect from sudden changes in currency values.
D) the problem of volatility in financial capital flows.
19) Which of the following is true?
A) Domestic policies are never barriers to trade.
B) Tariffs and quotas in industrial nations are significantly higher now than they were in 1950.
C) Tariffs and quotas are the primary trade barrier in industrialized countries.
D) Domestic policies intended to protect consumers or the environment may become trade
barriers.
20) Economists
A) describe reducing tariffs and quotas as shallow integration.
B) describe reducing tariffs and quotas as deep integration.
C) believe that changing domestic policies affecting trade is a relatively simple process.
D) believe that the work of reducing trade barriers is done since most tariffs are low and most
quotas eliminated.
21) Deep integration
A) is easier to achieve than shallow integration.
B) is less controversial than shallow integration.
C) does not require changing domestic policies unrelated to tariffs and quotas.
D) requires cooperation with other national governments or international bodies.
22) Made in the USA or Made in China has less meaning for products that
A) are a commodity such as iron ore.
B) are an agricultural product such as wheat.
C) are technological and involve assembling many different types of sometimes sophisticated
components.
D) are produced and consumed domestically.
23) Which of the following kinds of agreements between two or more countries would be an
example of a shallow integration measure?
A) An agreement to accept another nation’s certification of architects
B) An agreement to unify customs forms in order to speed up cross-border traffic
C) An agreement to use the same environmental standards
D) An agreement to impose the same limits on cartels and monopolies
24) Which of the following kinds of agreements between two or more countries would be an
example of a deep integration measure?
A) An agreement to reduce tariffs and quotas
B) An agreement to unify customs forms in order to speed up cross-border traffic
C) An agreement to impose the same limits on cartels and monopolies
D) An agreement to reduce exports
25) While the world was fairly integrated at the turn of the last century, most trade was in
agricultural and raw materials, whereas today manufactured consumer and producer goods play a
much greater role in determining exports and imports.
26) Capital and labor only very recently have been free to move across international borders.
27) Capital flows between countries are smaller than in past decades in absolute terms.
28) Open economies grow more slowly than closed economies.
29) Daily foreign exchange transactions have grown from about $15 billion in 1973 to over $5
trillion today.
30) Most economists support open trade because it increase our choices as consumers, lowers
costs for producers, increases competition and innovation, and leads to greater diffusion of
technological change.
31) Domestic agricultural subsidies intended to support the nation’s farmers would not be
considered a trade barrier so would not be disputed internationally.
32) Most of what we buy and sell never makes it out of domestic markets.
33) The four criteria for economic integration include trade flows, capital flows, people flows,
and the similarity of prices in separate markets.
34) Transactions costs in international financial markets are higher today than they were in the
past.
35) Why are high domestic savings rates important?
36) What are the positive impacts of migration on migrants and the firms that hire them?
37) What are the negative impacts of migration for the nation receiving migrants?
38) Which type of integration requires adapting domestic policies to coordinate with those of
trading partners?
39) What do economists call movements of labor and capital between nations?
40) Compare and contrast globalization as it existed in the late nineteenth century with
globalization today.
41) What are some of the main advantages and disadvantages of the extensive financial and
commercial networks linking nations today?
42) How has the composition of trade flows changed from the early 20th century to today?
Compared to the past, is anything about trade today new?
43) Describe at least three ways that global capital markets are different today from what they
were like in the late 19th century.
44) How is the international economy qualitatively different in the first part of the 21st century
from what it was like in the first part of the 20th century?
1.3 Twelve Themes in International Economics
1) Which region of the world experienced a decade-long crisis and stagnant or even negative
growth rates during the 1980s?
A) Latin America
B) East Asia
C) The United States and Canada
D) The European Union
2) Which nations does the acronym BRIC stand for?