Week 15 · Readings & resources

Week 15 — Readings & Resources

Introduction to Business Free sample edition

Your primary reading is Chapter 15 (in this module). Everything below is the optional, go-deeper layer — pick what helps, skip the rest.

How to use this page

This page has 11 items (5 readings and 6 videos). Allow 62–73 minutes for everything. Each group links back to the matching chapter section and class-session segment, so use the full menu when you want more, or take the quick path below.

Every video here has captions: turn them on with the CC button in the player. The chapter covers the same ideas in text.

Pick-one quick path (19–21 min total)

① Why two places gain from trade

Chapter 15, Section “Build comparative advantage one ratio at a time” · Session 1, Segment 3, “Comparative advantage” · Remember: comparative advantage goes to the producer with the lower opportunity cost, even when the other side makes more of everything.

Specialization and Trade: Crash Course Economics #2 — CrashCourse — an episode on why people and countries specialize and trade, with comparative advantage worked on a small two-good example; as you watch, find each side's opportunity cost and check which one is lower, as you did for the two islands. Use it to preview the week before you open the Week-15 module overview. (video, 9 min) (captions: creator)
International Trade 101 — Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis — a central bank's explainer on the benefits and costs of trade, built on a country that opens up to trading coffee; listen for who gains and who loses when trade opens, and write one fact and one judgment from it. (video, 9 min) (captions: creator)

② Barriers, tariffs, and blocs

Chapter 15, Section “Answer who pays a tariff at the border” · Session 1, Segment 6, “Who pays a tariff” · Remember: the importer of record owes the duty at the border, and who bears the cost afterward is an open question.

What are Tariffs? — Two Teachers — a short business-studies explainer on what a tariff is and why governments use one; when it describes who ends up paying, compare it with the chapter's fact that the importer of record owes the duty and that how the cost is shared is studied, not settled. (video, 4 min) (captions: creator)
What are Trading Blocs? — Two Teachers — a short explainer on groups of countries that cut trade barriers among themselves, with the gains for members and the costs for countries outside; it still names NAFTA, which the USMCA replaced in 2020, so read that example as the USMCA's predecessor, and notice where the European Union fits. (video, 4 min) (captions: creator)
Tips for New Importers and Exporters — U.S. Customs and Border Protection — the federal border agency's advice page for first-time importers; read the parts on using a customs broker, where it says the importer of record stays responsible for duties, and on import quotas, and skip the filing and examination details. (reading, 6–8 min)

③ Reading the trade balance

Chapter 15, Section “Read the trade balance: a measure, not a debt” · Session 2, Segment 9, “The trade balance” · Remember: a trade deficit measures a year's flow of purchases and sales, not a debt the country owes.

Imports, Exports, and Exchange Rates: Crash Course Economics #15 — CrashCourse — an episode on imports, exports, and what a trade deficit does and does not mean; watch the trade-deficit part closely and skip the exchange-rate arithmetic, which this course leaves out. (video, 10 min) (captions: creator)
International Trade and Investment — U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — the federal statistics agency's plain guide to what its trade figures measure; read the introduction and the trade in goods and services entry, and skip the investment-position products. (reading, 5–7 min)

④ Going abroad, and your next step

Chapter 15, Section “Climb the entry ladder: from exporting to direct foreign investment” · Session 2, Segment 10, “The entry ladder” · Remember: each rung up the ladder puts more money at risk in return for more control.

Routes to market: How to choose the right route to market — UK Department for Business and Trade — a national government's export guide comparing direct sales, agents and distributors, licensing or franchising, joint ventures, and setting up abroad; read it as the entry ladder in another country's words; it gives pros and cons route by route rather than one ladder, so match its routes to the chapter's rungs and note that setting up abroad brings the most control and the most risk. This builds on Week 4's work with franchising, where the franchisor owns the brand. (reading, 4–6 min)
Using the Occupational Outlook Handbook for Your Career Search — BLS Videos — a brief tour of the federal career-guidance handbook's features; watch it before you open the handbook so you know where the duties, training, and outlook tabs sit. (video, 2 min) (captions: creator)
Business and Financial Occupations — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — the handbook's list of business and financial occupations with a one-line summary of each; pick two, open their pages, and note which skill from this course each one leans on. (reading, 5–8 min)

Optional one-stop reference (free online reference)

Grow your business: export products — U.S. Small Business Administration — the federal small-business agency's guide, which this course returns to; read the overview of why small firms export and the list of free trade-assistance services, and skip the loan-program details. (reading, 4–6 min)

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell your instructor and use the reference above in the meantime.

Provenance: Built with The Course Maker · samples.thecoursemaker.com