Taylor, Microeconomics 2E

Chapter 2: Security, Choice and Economic Interaction

Newsgroup Markets
Visit one of the following newsgroups:

(Newsgroups provide lists of messages on a particular topic. If your browser is properly configured, you should be able to download a list of message headers by clicking on the links below. Once the headers download, you can select messages to read by clicking on the message headers.)

a. Do participants in such lists receive gains from trade? How?
b. Does the existence of internet newsgroups such as these allow some individuals to gain from trade that might not otherwise occur? Explain.

Specialisation and the Division of Labour
Read Chapter 1 (Book 1) of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. Explain in your own words why Smith argues that specialisation and division of labour increases a nation's productive capacity.