PS 2120 International Politics
Economics in a World Context
II. In Economics, Structure matters
A. Microeconomic theory
B. Individual consumers
and producers have
little choice.
III. Globalization makes structure more
powerful.
A. Globalization increases
the Structure’s scale.
B. Countries and regions
lose the ability to make
choices for themselves.
Friday’s Main Points
1. Economics is the study of how scarce
resources are distributed.
2. To Economists, structure matters.
3. The textbook’s critique of the modern
world economy is that structure matters
too much
Today’s Main Points
Trade occurs because countries have
Comparative Advantage.
This trade allows gains from specialization.
I. Comparative Advantage
A. Comparative advantage
means being relatively
better at producing
something.
I. Comparative Advantage
A. Comparative advantage
means being relatively
better at producing
something.
B. Specialization makes the
whole pie get bigger.
Today’s Main Points
Trade occurs because countries have
Comparative Advantage.
This trade allows gains from specialization.
You should be reading…
“Trade and Globalization”
Handout