United States – BUSPROG: Reflective Thinking
United States – PA – DISC: Gains from trade, speciali – DISC: Gains from trade,
specialization and trade
Equilibrium Terms of Trade
167. Is it possible for comparative advantage to change, thus changing the direction of trade?
Lagging productivity growth may cause a country to lose its comparative advantage. In a two-
product, two-country model, this would change the direction of trade.
United States – BUSPROG: Promotion – BUSPROG: Analytic
United States – BUSPROG: Reflective Thinking
United States – PA – DISC: Gains from trade, speciali – DISC: Gains from trade,
specialization and trade
Changing Comparative Advantage
168. Explain the Law of Comparative Advantage.
The Law of Comparative Advantage asserts that with trade, each country will find it favorable
to specialize in the production of the good of its comparative advantage, and will trade part of
this for the good of its comparative disadvantage. Taking advantage of specialization can
result in production gains.
United States – BUSPROG: Promotion – BUSPROG: Analytic
United States – BUSPROG: Reflective Thinking
United States – PA – DISC: Gains from trade, speciali – DISC: Gains from trade,
specialization and trade
Production Gains from Specialization
169. Discuss the pitfalls of outsourcing, especially as experienced by Boeing.
Boeing outsourced its production capabilities for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to facilities in
several different countries, each of which made one component part of the aircraft. The plane
would be assembled in the U.S. Boeing also required these manufacturers, as a condition of
getting the contract for production, to fund part of the development of the plane. To save
money, some manufacturers outsourced a portion of their part of the job, causing quality