Background

Imagine that you work for the World Bank and you have been called to Ghana to aid the new president to come up with a new international trade strategy.

You are told that the new government is interested in moving away from agriculture and into manufacturing. To do so, the government wants to pursuit a policy of import substitution industrialisation (ISI).

You are given a brief about Ghana highlighting the following points:

• About half of Ghana's population depends on agriculture, but Ghana still imports some of its food.
• The majority of Ghana's people live in rural areas and exist on a subsistence way of life.
• Ghana has one of the highest rates of income inequality in the world.
• Nearly half of the population is employed in agriculture.

QUESTION B.3

The parliament of Ghana is debating whether import substitution should take the form of quotas or tariffs. You are asked to brief them on the difference between the two. A representative from Ghana's National Labour Party is particularly worried about consumers? Which policy (tariffs or quotas) is better for consumers?