MiKayla Greenwood
September 6, 2014
Business 100

1. What countries represent the largest global opportunities for the next decade? What factors determine the size of the opportunity?
China and India represent the largest global opportunities for the next decade. They have better access to factors of production, reduced risk, and an inflow of new ideas. 2. Explain how to calculate the balance of trade. How does the growing United States trade deficit impact the economy? Why?
To calculate the balance of trade you get the difference between a nation’s exports and imports. The growing United States trade deficit impacts the economy in which the growth may slow over the next few years because of the global economic crisis. 3. Explain the meaning of “strong” currency and “weak” currency. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
Strong currency is a currency that is improving compared to other currencies. Weak currency is when the currency has fallen in value. Weak currency is the complete opposite of strong currency. An advantage of strong currency would be that it lowers inflation. A disadvantage of strong currency would be that it increases the cost of housing. An advantage of weak currency would be that it would have profitability for companies. A disadvantage would be that foreign goods will be more expensive.
Application Question 1. Take a look at Fortune magazine’s most recent list of the 500 largest global companies. What are the top three industries on the list? What three countries appear most frequently? What firms have fallen off the list, and who are the new arrivals? Does a particular industry or country seem to be on the move? Consider what the answers to these questions tell you about today’s global economy. How would you expect the answers to change over the next decade? Why? How would your answers change if you also