Paper Topic

Choose a country that we will NOT be studying in the course, and write a research paper on the country’s economic relationship with the rest of the world. In other words, apply the course concepts to the country you choose. The countries that we are covering in the course, meaning that you may NOT choose these countries, are: Canada, the United States, Mexico, China, India, and members of the European Union (see the list on page 307 of the text). I recommend that you DO pick a World Bank member, and use the World Bank website at the starting point for your research. A list of World Bank members is here: http://www.worldbank.org/countries.

Sources

• You must use at least six distinct sources in total. At least four of your sources must be accessible to me via the Web or Online Library.
• You may not use Wikipedia, About.com, or similar encyclopedia-like works as a source.
• Consider the reliability of your sources. For example, journal articles from sources in our online library will generally be more reliable than pages that come up using Google.
• You should definitely use the Online Library to find sources. Follow the Library link within the Blackboard course, and feel free to use the “Ask a Librarian” feature to e-mail or IM a librarian for additional help with research.

Specific Concepts to Address

Your paper should answer questions such as the ones below, which follow the concepts of each chapter.
• How open is the country to trade?
• Is the country a part of any regional trade agreements?
• What does the country export? Why? Where does the comparative advantage in these goods and services come from?
• Who are the country’s major trading partners? Why?
• What is the country’s relationship with international trade organizations?
• Does the country use tariffs? Why? It is harmed by tariffs of other countries?
• What is the country’s balance of trade? Has this been increasing or decreasing? What is happening with the different components of the balance of trade?
• What currency does the country use? Has anything notable happened with the currency?
• Does the country use fixed or flexible exchange rates?
• Has trade affected income or jobs in different sectors of the country’s economy?
• Does the country’s government use any industrial policies related to trade?