For each pound of salami that Hungary produces, it gives up the ...

[cnetterville]

For each pound of salami that Hungary produces, it gives up the opportunity to make 10 bottles of beer. Slovakia can produce 1 pound of salami for every 8 bottles of beer it produces.
 
  Which of the following is true about the comparative advantage between the two countries?
  A) Slovakia has the comparative advantage in beer.
  B) Hungary has the comparative advantage in beer.
  C) Hungary has the comparative advantage in salami.
  D) Slovakia has the comparative advantage in salami and beer.

Question 2

There is a proverb anything worth doing is worth doing well. Do you think an economist would agree with this proverb?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[batool]

Answer to Question 1

B

Answer to Question 2

Probably not (unless this economist is one of your parents). An economist is likely to tell you that you should follow the Principle of Optimization at the Margin and that you should do something well only if the marginal benefits of doing it well are at least as large as the marginal costs. Suppose you are thinking of painting your room and you have three options: decide not to paint, paint but do a sloppy job, or paint and be meticulously careful. An economist would tell you to paint your room carefully if the marginal benefit of being careful (i.e., the difference between how your room would look if you are careful and how it would look if you are sloppy) is at least as large as the additional cost of painting carefully. Remember that because of scarcity, we cannot have everything we want. Suppose you get 95 of the benefit from painting your room to perfection while doing a sloppy job. The additional 5 in benefits from striving for perfection may well cost more than it is worth, in terms of alternative uses for your time.