05.02

Name, location, geography

  1. Can you include a map to show locations of your countries?
  2. What are some geographic features of the countries that may impact production and trade?

Economic System

  1. Is the country primarily a traditional, command, market, or mixed economy?
  2. How does the country structure its leadership? Is the country developed or least developed?
  3. Are there any significant events happening in the country in regards to its economy or politics?

05.03

Economic Indicators

What are the current rates of:

  • unemployment
  • GDP
  • income gap
  • EFW index
  • balance of trade

05.04

Major Industries

  1. What industries are most prominent in the country?
  2. What do most people do for work there?
  3. Are there any famous special items the country produces?

Advantage

  1. Through which products or industries does the country enjoy absolute advantage?
  2. Through which products or industries does the country enjoy comparative advantage over the other two countries?
  3. Does the United States already have a trade relationship with the country? If so, list products of exchange. You may leave the box for the United States blank on this one.
  4. You may reference statistics about current production in the countries, amounts or value of natural resources, and other data.

05.05

Barriers to Trade

Do these countries have any barriers to trade? What are they?

Free Trade Zones

  1. Is the country a member of any free trade zones?
  2. What benefits does the nation enjoy from that membership?
05.06

Inflation and Exchange Rates

What are the current rates of inflation and exchange in each country?

News

What are some current events or other information that may influence each country’s inflation rate, exchange rate, or potential for trade?

05.08 Analysis

  1. Which country do you think would increase its success more in meeting the economic goals from expanding trade with the United States? Explain.
  2. Based on your information about comparative and absolute advantage, explain which country the United States would benefit from most and why.
  3. Considering your discussion and data on barriers to trade and free trade zones, which country would be easier to trade with from a political point of view? Explain.
  4. Are any of these countries experiencing high inflation? How does inflation affect exchange rates with U.S. currency and, ultimately, the cost of trade? How else may inflation impact a society and the world economy?
  5. Are there other issues in either country that the United States should consider before entering trade negotiations? Discuss them. Examples may be human rights concerns, war, geography, other political issues, malnutrition or disease, transportation, or climate.
  6. To finalize, which country do you think would be a better trade partner for the United States at this time? Explain.