Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was formed in 1975 but its efforts at
economic integration were restarted in 1992 because of a Jack of early progress. The most important
goals of ECOWAS (www.ecowas.int) include the formation of a customs union, an eventual
common market, and a monetary union. The ECOWAS nations comprise a large portion of the
economic activity in sub-Saharan Africa, but progress on market integration is almost nonexistent.
In fact, the value of trade occurring among ECOWAS nations is just 11 percent of the value that the
trade members undertake with third parties. But ECOWAS made progress in the free movement of
people, construction of international roads, and development of international telecommunication
links. Some of its main problems are due to political instabi lity, poor governance, weak national
economies, poor infrastructure, and poor economic policies.
African Union (AU)
A group of 55 nations on the African continent j oined forces in 2002 to create the African Union
(AU). Heads of state of the nations belonging to the Organization of African Unity paved the way
for the AU (w,v,v.au.i nt.en/) when they signed the Sirte Declaration in 1999.
The AU is based on the vision of a united and strong Africa and on the need to build a partnership
among governments and all segments of civil society in order to strengthen cohesion among
the peoples of Africa. Its ambitious goals are to promote peace, security, and stability across Africa
and to accelerate economic and political integration while addressing problems compounded by
globalization. Specifical ly, the stated aims of the AU are to ( I) rid the continent of the remaining
vestiges of colonialism and apartheid, (2) promote unity and solidarity among African states, (3)
coordinate and intensify cooperation for development, (4) safeguard the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of members, and (5) promote international cooperation withi n the framework of the
United Nations. Although it is too early to judge the success of the AU, there is no shortage of
opportunities for it to demonstrate its capabilities.
QUICK STUDY 4
I. What are the stated aims of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)?
2. The stated aim of which organization is not to build a trading bloc but instead to strengthen
the multilateral trading system?
3. What is the name of the grouping of 55 nations across the continent of Africa?

According to the New York Times (11/18/06) the number of car producers in China is increasing rapidly. The newspaper reports that “China has more car brands now than the United States.” But while car sales have climbed 38% in the first three quarters of the year, automakers have increased their output even faster, causing fierce competition and a slow erosion of prices.” At the same time, Chinese consumer incomes have risen. Assume that cars are a normal good. Use a diagram of the supply and demand curves from cars in China to show what is happening. Explain verbally, too. Label and describe shifts and directions of Q and P carefully. Explain in 2 Paragraphs mininum. include diagram.

Information from the American Institute of Insurance indicates the mean amount of life insurance per household in the United States is $115,000. This distribution follows the normal distribution with a standard deviation of $37,000.

3. What is the likelihood of selecting a sample with a mean of at least $120,000? (Round your z value to 2 decimal places and final answer to 4 decimal places.)

4. What is the likelihood of selecting a sample with a mean of more than $106,000? (Round your z value to 2 decimal places and final answer to 4 decimal places.)

5. Find the likelihood of selecting a sample with a mean of more than $106,000 but less than $120,000. (Round your z value to 2 decimal places and final answer to 4 decimal places.)

Reverse Repurchase Agreements

On 3 February 2020, China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), conducted the largest single-day reverse repo operation in its his- tory. The PBOC injected a total of 173.81 billion USD into the money mar- kets through reverse bond repurchase agreements, which is the purchase of bonds with the agreement to sell them at a higher price at a specific future date. Use a diagram showing the exchange rate, the expected currency re- turns, and money holdings to describe the short-term and long-term effects (i.e., flexible prices) of this monetary policy action from the perspective of the United States. That is, let USD be the domestic currency and CNY be the foreign currency (10 Points).

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a large regional agreement that involves 12 nations, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam. It is part of a larger Asian foreign policy agenda and has been considered highly controversial. The “Headlines: Making the Case for Trade” reviews the main arguments for free trade and argues that freer trade results in a wider variety of goods at lower prices, firms engaged in trade tend to have higher wages than other firms, that gains will come from the elimination of tariff, among others. But there are controversies as well. Please list and briefly discuss at least five controversial issues related to the proposed formation of TPP.

1. Which source of hospital revenue was zero prior to 1965?

            [A]       Private health insurance

            [B]       Out of pocket payments

            [C]       Medicare

2. In the United States, our health care system allows those with high incomes to purchase better quality care and medical services. What is an example of a way socialized health care systems allow citizens to purchase improved care?       

            [A]       “Los Privados”, a Cuban service of private physicians.

[B]       Medical tourism, where wealthy patients come to the US to get better and faster treatments

            [C]       A tax for decreased surrey wait time in France, known as “Impôt sur la santé”.

            [D]       3 tiers of varying coverage levels for Canadians.

            [D]       Government

According to a posting on a website subsequent to the death of a child who bit into a peanut, a certain study found that 6% of children younger than 18 in the United States have at least one food allergy. Among those with food allergies, about 43% had a history of severe reaction.

(a)

If a child younger than 18 is randomly selected, what is the probability that he or she has at least one food allergy and a history of severe reaction? (Enter your answer to four decimal places.)

(b)

It was also reported that 40% of those with an allergy in fact are allergic to multiple foods. If a child younger than 18 is randomly selected, what is the probability that he or she is allergic to multiple foods? (Enter your answer to three decimal places.)