Q1.

American apparel companies have been setting up factories in relatively poor countries such as Bangladesh where labor costs are lower than in the United States. Some people in the United States argue that these companies exploit mostly female workers in these countries and they have started movements to boycott their products to support these workers. Your instructor, on the other hand, argues that, if these poor countries allow multiple companies to come in and people are not forced to work for them, these so-called 'sweat shops' would contribute to improve the status of these female workers in the long run, and that boycotting their products would actually harm them. Explain his argument. (You don't have to agree with him. If you want to refute his argument, you first need to understand it. What is his argument?) (2 points)

Q2.

When there is a famine or a serious food shortage in a foreign country, the United States sends food aid. The traditional policy of the United States is to buy food (e.g., rice, corn, wheat) from American farmers and ship it to the country which needs aid. However, there has been a lot of criticism of this traditional policy. The critics argue that, if the United States really wants to help famine-stricken countries, it should buy food in them or somewhere close because shipping food from the United States and providing it for free have had a devastating effect on the food-producing capacity in these countries and they have been made permanently dependent on US food aid. Explain their argument.(2 points)