It has been claimed that foreign governments have attempted to influence votes in the U.S. that would promote policies of protectionism within the U.S
On the surface this appears to be totally illogical and counter intuitive, as this would presumably lessen the possibilities of foreigners' exports to the U.S.
This would make sense only if the form of protectionism is a tariff. However, if it is a quota, then the scarcity rents may be captured by established foreign producers. Hence, the reaction of the Japanese to automobile quotas was to dramatically increase the high-end, highly profitable automobiles. This would be even more self-evident if the protectionism took the form of a Voluntary Export Restraint (VER), or a detailed formalized bilateral cartel, such as the old Multi-Fibre Agreement.
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A monopolistic competitor is like a monopolist in the short run in that when economic profits are
A) equal to zero, price equals marginal cost. B) equal to zero, price below marginal cost. C) greater than zero, changes in output are due to changes to plants by existing firms and there is no entry. D) greater than zero, price exceeds marginal cost.
When prices are falling, economists say that there is
a. disinflation. b. deflation. c. a contraction. d. an inverted inflation.