1. Once the COVID-19 pandemic is under control, Argentina and Chile would both be fascinating countries to visit. You want to visit both countries and experience their wonders for yourself. But, travel advisors point out that if the two economies return to their pre-pandemic situation, it would be cheaper to go Argentina than to Chile. (See, for example, the Budget Your Trip webpage on cost comparisons.) So, visiting Argentina rather than Chile may make economic sense in that situation. A trip to Chile could be postponed till things change in some later years and the cost of travel to Chile goes down relative to the cost of visiting Argentina. You want to know why Argentina has been cheaper than Chile and what sort of changes in the two countries might change the relative costs of visiting them.

(a)When sites such as Budget Your Trip claim that Argentina is cheaper than Chile, are they comparing the nominal or the real exchange rates of the two countries? How do we know which one they are using?

Answer:

(b)Is the travel advisors' claim that Argentina is less expensive than Chile corroborated by the relative price of Big Mac in Argentina and Chile in December 2020? Please use The Economist's website for the Big Mac Index, https://www.economist.com/big-mac-index, to find by what percentage the nominal dollar price of Big Mac in Chile, P_C, was higher than the nominal price of Big Mac in Argentina, P_A, in December 2020; that is, calculate (P_C - P_A)/P_A and express it as a percentage with one decimal point. Based on this calculation, is the claim corroborated?

Answer:

(c)To explore the question why Argentina is less expensive than Chile, we need to know about the trends in the factors that may have affected the real exchange rates of the two economies. Below is some information about such potential factors. Discuss how this information may say about why Argentina is cheaper than Chile (in other words, connect these statements to the real exchange rate of these countries compared to each other).

i.In 2010, Argentina and Chile had the same per capita PPP GDP, and during 2010-2019, the average per capita GDP growth rate was 0.3% in Argentina and 2.2% in Chile.

ii.During 2010-2014, government expenditure as percent of GDP was, on average, 18% in Argentina and 20% in Chile. Then, during 2015-2019, government expenditure as percent of GDP declined to 16% in Argentina and grew to 22% in Chile.

iii.According to the 2019 Global Competitiveness Index, Argentina's score was 57.2 and Chile's was 70.5, indicating much lower productivity in Argentina than in Chile, especially in the tradable sector.

iv.During 2010-2019, total natural resources rents (income derived from the extraction of natural resources) as percentage of GDP were, on average, 2.6% in Argentina and 14.3% in Chile.