2015年11月IB经济SL真题下载-Paper2
1. Study the extract below and answer the questions that follow.
Clean energy products
(1)In a speech on climate change, President Obama announced a plan for the United States (US) to work with trading partners and the World Trade Organization (WTO) towards global free trade in clean energy products, such as solar panels and wind towers.
(2)The US will build on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)* agreement where member economies agreed to remove quotas and reduce tariffs to 5 % or less by 2015 on a negotiated list of 54 clean energy products.
(3)However, the APEC agreement does not include reducing anti-dumping tariffs. Such tariffs are allowed under WTO rules. When importers are suspected of dumping clean energy products on the domestic market, industries seek protection by putting pressure on government to impose anti-dumping tariffs.
(4)In recent years, anti-dumping tariffs on clean energy products have increased. In 2011 China was found to be subsidizing and dumping wind towers on the US market. In retaliation, the US imposed an anti-dumping tariff of between 45 % and 71 %. In addition, a similar tariff was imposed on Vietnamese wind tower imports.
(5)In the solar industry in 2012, a group of seven US solar panel manufacturers sought protection from cheap Chinese imports. After investigating claims of dumping, the US imposed anti-dumping tariffs ranging from 24 % to 36 % on Chinese solar panel producers.
(6)The Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy (CASE), which represents importers, installers and solar power generators, supports the President’s strategy to address climate change by making imports of environmental goods more affordable and giving consumers choice. However, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), representing domestic producers of clean energy products, are hostile, claiming that the strategy “runs a serious risk of punishing Americans with higher energy bills, fewer jobs, and a weaker economy, while delivering negligible benefits to the environment”.
（7）Similar trade issues have arisen between China and the European Union (EU). In 2011, solar panels made up 6.5 % of China’s exports to Europe at a value of around US$27 billion. In 2012, Belgian solar panel manufacturers claimed that these products were being dumped in the EU market. In June 2013, the EU announced that it would impose anti-dumping tariffs of up to 47 % on Chinese solar products. In retaliation China threatened to impose a tariff on EU wine, arguing that EU farm subsidies had resulted in European countries dumping wine in China. After these Chinese threats of retaliatory trade measures the EU reduced the solar panel tariff to 12 %.
* Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC): member economies are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, People’s Republic of China, Peru, Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines, The United States and Vietnam
(a) (i) State two functions of the World Trade Organization (WTO)(paragraph （1）).
(ii) Define the term dumping indicated in bold in the text (paragraph （3）).
(b) Using an international trade diagram, explain the effects on individual APEC“member economies” of removing a quota on the market for clean energy products (paragraph （2）).
(c) Using a demand and supply diagram, explain how a tariff on solar panels would affect the market for solar power electricity (paragraph （5）).
(d) Using information from the text/data and your knowledge of economics,discuss the arguments for and against free trade in the global market for clean energy products.
2. Study the extract below and answer the questions that follow.
Gulf banks debating currency peg to US dollars
（1）Qatar’s central bank suggests some Gulf States* should consider moving from a fixed exchange rate, with their currencies pegged to the US dollar, to a floating exchange rate system. Bankers and economists throughout the region are debating this issue.
（2）Qatar’s central bank governor said the country planned no change to its peg to the dollar, with the exchange rate now fixed at QAR3.64/US$1. However, “with increasing integration in international trade, services, and asset markets, a higher degree of exchange rate flexibility may become more desirable” he said. Qatar is battling against higher rates of inflation in 2013. Inflation is at the highest level since 2009.
（3）Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have pegged their currencies to the dollar for decades. They have been able to do this because their inflation rates have been low and stable, and they have had substantial oil export revenues giving them large reserves of foreign currency.
（4）As a result there has been no need to change official exchange rates, said the chief economist at National Bank of Abu Dhabi: “Fixing the currency gives stability and visibility for business contracts”. There are good arguments for pegging the currency to the US dollar. However, it can result in imported inflation from other economies. In 2007, the US was cutting interest rates. This meant that, in order to maintain the fixed exchange rate, the UAE also had to cut its interest rates. This was at a time when the UAE was booming and experiencing high inflation.
（5）Currently there is no pressure on the pegged rate and if necessary a central bank can revalue or devalue its currency when required. It is commonly agreed that the best time to change a fixed currency regime is when there is no pressure.
（6）A senior economist at a commercial bank agrees that the UAE should consider dropping its currency peg to the US dollar and moving to a floating exchange rate for the dirham (the UAE currency). He says that the US dollar’s weakness relative to other currencies was a positive stimulus for economic growth. However, growth in the UAE is already quite strong and so having its currency pegged to a weak currency could harm the economy by leading to higher inflation.
(a) (i) Define the term fixed exchange rate indicated in bold in the text (paragraph （1）).
(ii) Define the term economic growth indicated in bold in the text(paragraph （6）).
(b) Using an exchange rate diagram, explain how the United Arab Emirates (UAE) could maintain a fixed value of its dirham to the US dollar if there were upward pressure on the dirham.
(c) Distinguish between a devaluation and a depreciation of a currency.
(d) Using information from the text/data and your knowledge of economics,discuss the view that some Gulf States “should consider moving from a fixed exchange rate” to “a floating exchange rate system” (paragraph （1）).
2015年11月IB经济SL真题余下省略！
你可能还关注