CHAPTER ONE: ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS

1. Globalization refers to the openness and the free exchange of goods, services, resources, technologies, capital, and ideas around the world. Globalization is important because it increases efficiency; it is inevitable because international competition requires it. The anti-globalization movement blames globalization for increased world poverty and income inequalities, child labor, environmental pollution and many other problems.

2. Nations usually impose restrictions on the free international flow of goods, services and factors. Differences in language, customs and laws also hamper these international flows. In addition, international flows of goods, services and resources may involve receipts and payments in different currencies, which may change in value in relation to one another through time. International relations are to be contrasted with the interregional relations, which face no such restrictions as tariffs and are conducted in terms of the same currency, usually in the same language, and under basically the same set of customs and laws.

3. A rough measure of the degree of economic interdependence of a nation with the rest of the world is given by the ratio or percentage of its exports to its gross domestic product (GDP). For small, developed nations, such as the Netherlands and Belgium, the ratio can reach as high as 60 to 90. For large nations, such as Germany, England, France and Italy, the ratio ranges from 25 to 35. For the United States it is between 12 and 17 and growing.

4. The United States relies less on international trade for its high standard of living than most other developed nations because it is continental in size with immense natural and human resources. As such, it can produce with relative efficiency most of the products it needs. Contrast this to the position