The Dominican Republic and Nicaragua both produce coffee and rum. The Dominican Republic can produce 20 thousand tons of coffee per year or 10 thousand barrels of rum. Nicaragua can produce 30 thousand tons of coffee per year or 5 thousand barrels of rum. What is the minimum price that these countries will trade rum and the maximum price they will trade for coffee?

The answer should be un terms of the traded goods. In the case of the minimum price of rum, it is 0.5 barrels of rum per one ton of coffee. In the case of the maximum price of coffee, it is 6 tons of coffee per barrel of coffee.

Explanation:

These values come from the analysis of opportunity cost that both countries have at the moment of use the production capacity: if the Dominican Republic decides to produce rum, then it would give up on coffee. The same with Nicaragua, when it chooses to produce coffee, it gives up producing rum. The potential trade opportunities arise in the mix of prices where both countries can take benefit form the exchange of goods (obtaining more of one product than producing with its own capacity). This is called comparative advantages, and it is a theoretical justification of international trade.