Full text : International trade

WAGES NOT UNIFORM — NON-COMPETING GROUPS 49

wages are less than prevail in other German industries. Our
figures then are modified thus:

In the U. S. 10 days’ labor
» » 1. S. 10 »
” Germany 1. ” ”
" Germany 10 ” >

WaGEs
PER DAY
$2.00
£2.00
$1.00
20.75

TorAL
WAGES
$20
$20
310
® 7.50

Propuce
30 wheat
20 linen
15 wheat
10 linen

DomesTic
SurpLy Price
$0.662
$1.00
$0.662
$0.75

Wheat is still at the same price in both countries. But linen
is now cheaper in Germany, and moves from Germany to the
United States. At first specie alone moves from the United
States to Germany. As prices fall in the United States and rise in
Germany, wheat becomes cheaper in the former and dearer in the
latter. Wages fall in the United States, rise in Germany. Equilibrium
 will be reached under conditions somewhat like these :

[n the U. S. 10 days’ lab-1”
 3» U. S. 14
” Germany lt
” Germanv 10

WAGES
DER. At

-~

ToraL
WAGES

Propuce
20 wheat
inen
wheat
linen

DomEesTIC
SuppLy PRricE
$0.60
$0.90
$0.73%
$0.82%

This particular relation of prices and of money wages would be
reached (wages in the United States $1.80, wages in Germany
generally $1.10), as need not again be explained if the demand
for linen in the United States and the demand for wheat in Germany
 were such that the money value of the wheat sent from the
United States exactly equalled the money value of the linen sent
from Germany. The general outcome would plainly be that
grade developed precisely as if the Germans had a comparative
labor advantage —a comparative effectiveness of labor — in
making linen. The conditions of labor cost are such that if these
were the only governing factors, no trade between the two countries
 would develop. But the exceptionally low wages of the
German linen workers cause Germany to have the equivalent of a
comparative advantage. The case is the converse of that just
considered.
Now push the matter a step still further. Tho we may conceive
of non-competing groups as separate and distinct, it never happens
            
Waiting...

Note to user

Dear user,

In response to current developments in the web technology used by the Goobi viewer, the software no longer supports your browser.

Please use one of the following browsers to display this page correctly.

Thank you.