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:

1. Production Possibility Frontier (PPF) Model
   1. 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.)
   2. 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.
2. Opportunity Cost
   1. 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?
   2. 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.)
3. Interdependence and Gains From Trade
   1. Which country has an absolute advantage in producing cars? Which country has an absolute advantage in producing grain?
   2. Which country has a comparative advantage in producing cars? Which country has a comparative advantage in producing grain?
   3. Without trade, half of each country’s workers produce cars, and half produce grain. What quantities of cars and grain does each country produce?
4. Arguments for Trade
   1. 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.

Supporting Materials

The following resources support your work on the assignment:

Video: How to Use Snipping Tool (Beginners Guide) (5:23)
PC users can use this tutorial to learn how to snip, copy, and paste your data visualizations into the project template.

A captioned version of this video is available: ECO-201: How to Use Snipping Tool Beginners Guide (CC).

Resource: Is There a Snipping Tool for Mac? Four Best Snipping Tools
Mac users can use this tutorial to help snip, copy, and paste your graph into your template.

Module Two Short Paper Rubric

CriteriaProficient (100%)Needs Improvement (55%)Not Evident (0%)ValueProduction Possibility Frontier (PPF) ModelCompletes Table 1 in the template, includes an appropriate production possibilities frontier (PPF) graph, and explains in two to three sentences what a PPF graph demonstrates and how it illustrates the idea of efficiencyShows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissionsDoes not attempt criterion15Opportunity CostIdentifies the opportunity cost of a car and of grain for the United States and Japan and completes Table 2 in the templateShows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissionsDoes not attempt criterion20Interdependence and Gains from TradeIdentifies which country has an absolute advantage and which has a comparative advantage in producing cars and producing grain, as well as the quantities of cars and grain each country would produce without tradeShows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissionsDoes not attempt criterion25Arguments for TradeIdentifies and evaluates a current news article on international trade that supports the argument economists make in favor of free trade agreements (FTAs)Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissionsDoes not attempt criterion30Clear CommunicationConsistently and effectively communicates in an organized way to a specific audienceShows progress toward proficiency, but communication is inconsistent or ineffective in a way that negatively impacts understandingShows no evidence of consistent, effective, or organized communication5Citations and AttributionsUses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with consistent minor errorsUses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with major errorsDoes not use citations for ideas requiring attribution5Total:100%