Politics and Economics - Research Paper Example

An article with the “Import Prices Fall for First Time in a Year” was posted by the Bloomberg News in the Nytimes.com last July 13, 2001. Thearticle was about the changes, particularly the decline, in the prices of goods imported to the United States such as food, consumer goods, automobiles and fuels. In this article, the Labor Department reported that prices of goods imported to the United States fell in June for the first time in a year as oil and food expenses retreated while for David Semmens, a United States economist at Standard Chartered Bank in New York, the drop is really reflective of what they’re expecting for the second half of the year with weaker energy and food prices (Bloomberg News, 2011).

Man is always changing – from his physical traits to his values and cultures. He changes even his way of life in order to cope with his ever changing environment. Because of the changes in his environment, economic resources have become scarce. This is the main reason for us to economize (McConnell & Brue, 2005). We need to make economic choices every day of our life – from choosing our food to eat, deciding what and where to buy our clothes and how much fuel should be filled in our car. And in every decision that we make, we has to forgo an alternative and incur a cost.

In our decision makings, we need to consider the prices we have to pay. Prices in the economy may affect individuals’ buying behaviors and decisions. Prices of goods imported to the U.S. may affect the individuals’ decision making. Principles of economics can explain the behaviors of both sellers and consumers towards price changes. We, as consumers, tend to buy more when prices are lower and buy less or even delay buying when prices are high. However, the reported drop in the prices of imported goods could also be attributed to the increase in goods imported to the United States.

In a related article posted in the same site, the Commerce Department reported that exports of goods and services were $174.9 billion, while imports were $225.1 billion (Hauser, 2011). This only means that U.S. is now importing that much than producing. This is because in some cases, man’s own environment is limiting his economic choices. And because of the fact that natural, human and capital resources among nations are unevenly distributed means that nations or economies differ in their endowments of economic resources.

This is one of the bases for nations to engage in trade (Appleyard & Field Jr, 2001). This is also the reason why we have to import and export our goods. But man as a rational being tries to pursue opportunities to maximize his pleasure, happiness or satisfaction. We tend to buy the goods with lower prices than producing them ourselves. In this case, we prefer importing goods from other countries. Consumers’ buying patterns have changed. We consumers change our preferences and tastes, and as we choose to purchase these imported products, more goods will be imported to our country and as the Laws of supply and demand explain, their prices are expected to decline.

We are entangled in a web of economic relationships and we cannot live our everyday lives without getting affected by the changes in our environment. In our decision makings, we consider many things as they will matter not only at the moment we make them but the effects can extend in the future and to all individuals in the economy. Our decisions in life only reflect our ability to adapt to these changes and these changes is the reflection of our changing behaviors towards decision makings. Bibliography Appleyard, D. R., & Field Jr, A. J. (2001).

International Economics. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Bloomberg News. (2011, July 13). Import Prices Fall for First Time in a Year . Retrieved July 10, 2011, from New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/business/economy/import-prices-decline-for-first-time-in-a-year.html?ref=internationaltradeandworldmarket Hauser, C. (2011, July 12). U.S. Trade Deficit Jumped in May. Retrieved July 10, 2011, from New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/13/business/economy/us-trade-deficit-jumped-in-may.html?scp=4&sq=international%20trade%20us&st=cse McConnell, C. R., & Brue, S. L. (2005).

Macroeconomics: Principles, Problems, and Policies . New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.