Web-Based Questions

1. Web-Based Question: More labor resources- What is the evidence for the United States and France? Go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ website at www.bls.gov/ and click Data and then Most Requested Data. Retrieve U.S. employment data (CPS) for the period of the last 10 years. How many more workers were there at the end of the 10-year period than at the beginning? Next, return to Most Requested Data and click Foreign Labor Statistics. Find the total employment growth of France over the last 10 years. In which of the two countries did "more labor resources" have the greatest impact on the nation’s production possibilities curve over the 10 years?



2. Web-Based Question: Relative size of the military-who’s incurring the largest opportunity cost? To obtain military goods, a nation must sacrifice civilian goods. Of course, that sacrifice may be worthwhile in terms of national defense and protection of national interests. Go to the Central Intelligence Agency’s website, http://www.cia.gov/index.html, to determine the amount of military expenditures and military expenditures as a percentage of GDP for each of the following five nations: Brazil, Japan, North Korea, Russia, and the United States. Which one is bearing the greatest opportunity cost?