What is the purpose of international trade marketing?

Trade marketing is a comprehensive marketing discipline that targets demand and supply chain producers with associates in the market including wholesalers, dealers, traders, brokers and distributors, rather than just retailers. It is also known as B2B marketing or business-to-business marketing with promotional activities focused at increasing the demand for a product among the various end-users.

A manufacturers must ensure consistent supply and availability of the product to retailers with consistent quality. Incentives are given to the intermediaries for effective promotion of the product at each step of the distribution process. The dealer could be a retailer, wholesaler, or a modern model retailer like self-service stores: Whole Foods, Walmart, Target etc. which venture into both the consumer retailing and wholesaling. Basic method of trade marketing is focusing on Distribution, Display, Promotion and Price. With data collected and knowledge of sales fundamentals, trade marketing is applied to develop market strategy in line with branding.

A typical business to business relates to other B2B by commercial transactions that go from primary process to secondary or tertiary for instance:

When a business sources raw materials for their production process like salt for canning

A business might need the services of another for operational reasons such as financial assistance.

A retailer that re-sells goods and services produced by others such as advertising, promotion, distribution, and product management

Trade marketing discipline includes the study of subject matters in the areas of:

Statistical surveys

Survey methodology

Exploratory research

Online panels

Quantitative research

Questionnaires for random sampling

Systematic sampling

Stratified sampling

Cluster sampling

Multistage sampling

Geodemographic segmentation

Intermarket segmentation for international markets

Psychographics lifestyle and values segmentation

Targeted advertising

Target audience

The steps in trade marketing for new production development process include:

Idea generation

Concept evaluation

Concept testing

Business analysis

Product manufacturing

Market testing

Commercialization

A new product most also go to the process of:

Certification

Copyright

Logo creation

Patent

Trademark

Private labels or Store brand

Brand licensing

In recent years in the age of the Internet disruptive technologies have introduced as a challenge to traditional methods mainly, online shopping by giants such as Amazon and E-Bay and more recently https://merchant.wish.com/welcom... targeting the international consumer market.

What are the main criticisms of the TPP?

Alfonso Llanes, Master Degree in International Development

Answered just now

The specific answer is that few people know exactly what the TPP is because the agreement has not been made public.

In the same light as other participating governments, the agreement is kept under cover but many advisers, most of them corporate lobbyists, have been able to read it and make suggestions that benefit them. This has of course, led to speculation from a variety of fronts about what is actually included in TPP. All we have is a broad outline where it states that “it wants to create favorable conditions for U.S. companies doing business in TPP partner countries.”

Two leaked chapters cover intellectual property and environmental regulations. And what they reveal has many Internet privacy rights advocates, labor unions and environmentalists, very concerned.

Environmentalists in a joint analysis by the Sierra Club, World Wildlife Fund and National Resources Defense Council claimed that they found the TPP to be a step backward from a 2007 agreement worked out by the George W. Bush administration. The TPP takes a softer approach on the environment, by only requiring that signatories "affirm [their] commitment" to uphold environmental regulations and allowing countries to avoid a more demanding legal standard.

Critics of the agreement point out that during the negotiations corporate lobbyists were consulted broadly but no significant consultations took place with consumer groups, taxpayer organizations, union organizations, healthcare professionals or environmentalists. Even elected representatives, were given only restricted access to the negotiating documents and then were not allowed to discuss them with anyone. Therefore, criticism of the agreement is that was negotiated in dark and in the interests of major corporations not in the interest of the general populations of the member countries.

The result of other agreements has been that corporations move jobs overseas to increase their profits while workers at home have been forced to take on under qualified, lower paid employment.

Another sticking point is that the TPP is as much about investor rights and promoting investors’ interests as it is about free trade. One sturdy argument is that the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism (ISDS) gives foreign corporations the right to “by-pass domestic courts and to go before an international tribunal to seek compensation” if and when a member government makes a policy that interferes with profits. This “right” interferes with the sovereignty of member states like is the case of big tobacco suing Uruguay, Australia and other countries for lost profits. Other vital policy areas include environmental and general public health issues and the regulation of basic sectors such as real estate and finance.

Another critical issue is focused on the existing economic and technological hierarchy among members. The countries that produce high-tech products and hold large numbers of patents, principally, developed countries will be able to protect their high-tech industries through the Intellectual Property Rights provisions while resource extraction countries and low-cost manufacturing economies will find themselves in a difficult position to move up the economic and technological ladder in any significant way. Additionally, it limits the role of government to such an extent that it will be difficult to address a whole series of problems including those associated with global warming, financial crises, and health emergencies. Moreover, State own enterprises (SOE) or mixed economies of private and public ownership are ranked below the protection of investors and private corporations.

What is the best NYSE history exchange website for international trading?

Alfonso Llanes, Master Degree in International Development

Answered just now

The best NYSE HISTORY exchange website for international trading was launched in the year 2000 by the New York Stock Exchange located at https://www.intercontinentalexch...

INTERCONTINENTAL EXCHANGE ABOUT PAGE states the following text:

“(NYSE: ICE)

We launched Intercontinental Exchange in 2000, with an electronic trading platform that brought more transparency and accessibility to the OTC energy markets. Soon after, we began evolving in response to customer demand for efficiency, automation and risk management; we added global futures markets, cleared OTC products, data services and clearing houses – all designed to serve the dynamic needs of market participants around the world.

Today, we’re a Fortune 500 company that operates a global ecosystem of markets and clearing houses, and delivers information and listings services. By combining the best of human ingenuity and technology, we help our customers seamlessly access global markets and information.

We’re engineers, strategists and problem-solvers who continually create and improve technology that solves market structure challenges on behalf of our customers. We got our start bringing transparency and risk management to the global derivatives markets and then, through the acquisition of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), started innovating solutions to reduce complexity in the U.S. equity markets while bringing unparalleled services to our global issuers.

By putting the needs of our customers and global market participants first, we are a high-growth company focused on delivering:

• Liquid, global derivative markets spanning all major asset classes to enable risk management across a wide variety of industries.
• Clearing services that collateralize trading / position risk to help safeguard global markets and increase transparency.
• The premiere global listings venue through which companies generate capital, create jobs and fund innovation.
• Comprehensive data services that support informed decision-making by traders, risk managers, brokers, regulators and shareholders.
• Technology that connects companies around the world to global markets.”

Currently how many economies have a positive trade surplus, and which country has the largest trade surplus?

Trade surpluses often signify not competitiveness but a political and economic system that supports it. Trade balances are particularly important to understand the social structures of a given country that are competing for a niche in international commerce. Not only in price and quality but how the whole social system is structured to provide such competitive advantage. The entrepreneurial assets of country also play a crucial role in the world markets even when a country lacks many natural resources.

International institutions that keep track of a countries performance in the world stage include the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization among others. The European Commission for instance, monitors the trade balances of the EU countries as a percentage of GDP because large surpluses or deficits may lead to macro-economic imbalances between countries outside the EU and countries within the EU.

One of the EU countries running a surplus like the Netherlands need to look at value added in order to get an accurate picture of the importance of the exports of goods or the contribution exports make to GDP. The measure of trade balance is based on turnover values, whereas economic success is determined by the value added to GDP.

Germany’s trade surplus is very large because it produces good quality products that foreign markets want to buy. For that measure, many consider the trade surplus as a sign of economic achievement. But other countries make good products without running such large surpluses which contradicts Germany’s large trade surplus.

When attention is placed on the euro which is the currency that Germany shares with 18 other countries of the euro-zone the currency performance is measured as a unit-country-group.

• First this “average” measurement of the euro favors Germany for its comparative efficient methods of production. This results in that an underappreciated euro benefits Germany’s participation in a currency union. If Germany were still using the deutschemark, it would be much stronger than the euro is today, reducing the cost advantage of German exports in a substantial way.
• Second, Germany’s trade surplus is further amplified by government tight fiscal policies that tend to subdue the country’s domestic expenditure, including spending on imports.

On the list of 20 countries with the largest surplus China is number 1 with $510.7 billion USD and Germany Number 2 with $284.7 billion USD which are both large economies. There are however several smaller countries running trade surpluses like South Korea, Netherlands, Ireland, Taiwan, Singapore, Denmark and Israel among others.

In comparing the two countries with the largest trade surpluses China and Germany the one outstanding similarity is their mixed economies under very different political organization.

The state-owned enterprises (SOEs) transformation in China has been a gradual process. After 25 years of reforms, the government must wrestle with new problems such as downsizing special interests, separating the state from the operation of enterprises while addressing issues of corruption and improving the efficiency of fiscal policy and the economy. The state determines which organizations will be recognized as legitimate and forms a mixed but unequal partnership with such organizations. The mixture sometimes gets directed into the policy-making processes and often helps implement state policy on behalf of the government.

Germany on the other hand, is in step with an economic system modeled after the “Freiburger Schule.” A school of economic thought founded in the 1930′s at the University of Freiburg. It is built somewhat on the earlier historical school of economics but it emphasizes that only some forms of competition are good, while others may require government supervision.

This is considered a lawful and legitimate role of government in a democracy under the Freiburg School. The School also provided the economic theoretical elements of ordoliberalism and the social market economy of post-world war II Germany. It is also known as Rhine capitalism, a socioeconomic model that combines a free market capitalist economic system together with social policies that establish fair competition within the market and a welfare state to protect society from economic downfalls.

The asymmetry of the socio-economic systems affords German citizens freedoms that Chinese citizens do not have even when there are many similarities in the corporate structures.

How can underdeveloped countries get richer if they have nothing to export and no money to import?

Probably the most relevant example of an underdeveloped country getting rich without having natural resources and with a small land mass is the city-state of Singapore.

“Fifty years ago, this city-state was an undeveloped country with a GDP per capita of less than US $320.” Today, it is one of the world's fastest growing economies. Its GDP per capita is now an incredible US $60,000, making it the sixth highest in the world based on Central Intelligence Agency figures. For a country that lacks territory and natural resources, Singapore's economic ascension is nothing short of a remarkable achievement. By taking advantage of globalization, free market capitalism, education, and stern pragmatic policies, the country has been able to overcome its geographic disadvantages and become a leader in many areas of global commerce.

During colonial times, Singapore's economy was focused on entrepôt trade. However, this economic activity did not offered any prospect for job expansion in the post-colonial period while the withdrawal of the British only aggravated the existing unemployment. But to embark on promoting labor-intensive industries was an ambitious task for Singapore had no industrial tradition.

The majority of its working population had been trained for trade and services. Moreover, without a neighborhood and neighbors to trade with it, Singapore was forced to look for opportunities well beyond its borders in order to command its industrial development foresight.

Influenced by Israel's ability to spring over its Arab neighbors and trade with Europe and America, Lee and his visionary followers knew they had to persuade multinational corporations to manufacture in Singapore. In order to accomplish this and attract investors, Singapore had to create an environment that was safe, corruption- free, with low taxes and unrestrained by labor unions.

The result is that today, Singapore is an ultra-industrialized city-state and that entrepôt trade continues to play a dominant role in its economy. The Port of Singapore reports that is now the world's busiest transshipment port, surpassing Hong Kong and Rotterdam. In terms of total cargo tonnage handled, it has become the world's second busiest, behind only the Port of Shanghai. There are currently over 3,000 multinational corporations operating in the country, accounting for more than two-thirds of its manufacturing output and direct export sales. However, citizens of Singapore had to give up some personal freedoms as they live under an autocratic regime without much to say on how the country is run.

Another example of spectacular economic development with very limited resources is Japan. Its success has been based on an efficient blend of two economic tendencies:

• Japan has a well-conceived government activism of national planning and implementation, that guides its largely free economy with a deck of sophisticated monetary and fiscal policies.
• Second is the distinctively Japanese way of coupling private ownership assets with conservative, public-spirited management style. In a unique government-industry collaboration sometimes referred to overseas as "Japan, Inc.," the Ministry of International Trade (MITI) selects and encourages industries targeted as important to Japan's future economic growth. Some of these industries are chemicals, iron and steel, shipbuilding, automobiles and electronics. In the decade of the 1980’s it became computers, computer electronics and automation systems.

The objectives of maintaining rapid GNP growth, controlling inflation, and developing Japan's social and industrial infrastructure have been the concern of the Economic Planning Agency, which produced the successful Ikeda plan (to double the national income between in 10 years).

By this measure, the Japanese people don’t have to resort to war in order to obtain the natural resources that the country lacks, because its economic success brings enough money to purchase what it needs in the global market.

The United Nations recognizes that despite the fact that poverty is declining worldwide and inequality is leveling off not all is well in our new globalized economy. Proponents of market-led globalization must recognize that the global economy is not addressing the problems of poverty and inequality and is heavily influenced with asymmetries that add up to unequal opportunities. Social activists must rethink their demands for dismantling the limited institutions for managing globalization and must join forces to push a new global agenda, targeting newly minted global politics to accompany the global economy.

Why are Lake Pearls imported in Japan?

Alfonso Llanes, Master Degree in International Development

Answered just now

According to NOVA contributor Fred Ward a gemologist and author of the book Pearls reports that starting in the 1990′s, China took the market by surprise with pearl products that are revolutionizing the practice with shapes, luster, and colors that often match original Japanese Biwa quality and sometime even surpass it. These freshwater pearls are round enough and good enough to pass as Japanese akoya.

The Chinese have in fact profoundly altered freshwater culturing, making saltwater and freshwater methods indistinguishable.

Natural freshwater pearls occur in mussels for the same reason that saltwater pearls occur in oysters. If foreign material, or a parasite, enters a mussel shell and cannot be expelled, the mollusk coats the intruder with the same secretion it uses for shell-building, nacre.

In the process of culturing freshwater mussels, workers make small cuts into the mantle tissue inside both shells, and insert small pieces of live mantle tissue from another mussel into those slits. That attachment alone is sufficient to start nacre production. Just like natural freshwater and natural saltwater cousins cultured pearl are composed of nacre.

The first cultured freshwater pearls originated in Japan soon after their initial success with cultured saltwater pearls, Japanese pearl farmers experimented with freshwater mussels in Lake Biwa, a large lake near Kyoto. The all-nacre Biwa pearls formed in colors unseen in saltwater pearls with a luster and luminescent depth that rivals natural pearls. Sadly, recent pollution and virus problems have diminished cultured pearl production and Japan is now relying more on Chinese cultured pearls to satisfy the needs of its domestic and international markets allowing many to be sold with "Japan origin" stated or implied. Today, Japanese freshwater cultured pearls come from Lake Kasumigaura.

China is now the largest producer of cultured pearls in the world. But pearl farmers are concerned about their future as they face increasing ecological problems and pollution of their fresh water sources.

What would happen if it did not rain for 2 years?

Alfonso Llanes, Former pilot

Answered just now

A well-known fact is that water is crucial to our survival. We can go for about three weeks without food but only three days without water. So what would we do if it just stopped raining, not just for a day or two or even a season, but for two years or more? Our rivers would dry up, field crops would fail and our green and pleasant land would start to look like a dessert. Land can be irrigated, but it means using precious underground water reserves. California’s water woes are a good example of this narrative.

Under drought conditions we could bore for water at the lowest point of old rivers and streams to see if springs still existed. Drilling by the coast, just above sea level on sand dunes is another reliable way to find water.

People would have to move closer to the sources of fresh water like the Great Lakes and other fresh water reservoirs. Loch Ness in Scotland has more water, than all the rivers and lakes of England and Wales combined.

A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions that results in water-related problems. Precipitation rain or snow falls in uneven patterns across the globe. Dry periods can last for 10 years or more and good reference is the "Dust Bowl" of the 1930's when dust storms destroyed crops and farms. Groundwater, which is stored in aquifers below the surface of the Earth, is one of Earth’s most important natural resources.

The water levels in the aquifer that support a well does not always stay the same. Florida for instance, must be careful not to abuse it’s aquifer for salt water could invade the fresh water reservoirs and salty water being heavier than fresh water would settle in permanently. Needless to say this would be disastrous not only for Florida residents deprived of drinking water but it would end Florida’s prominence in the tourism industry causing billions in damages and the loss of livelihoods for millions of people. Climate change is the loaded gun waiting for a trigger to fire catastrophic weather pattern changes that could generate drought in the plains and torrential rains in low lying areas of the world all at the same time with unforeseen human consequences. The fragility of our environmental system is just beginning to be recognized and this awareness resulted in the Paris accord on Climate that Trump decided was not in the best interest of the United States to be a party to it.

If the US ends NAFTA and Canada makes a trade agreement with Mexico and Cuba, how would Trump react?

Alfonso Llanes, Master Degree in International Development

Answered just now

“Under NAFTA United States trade with Mexico and Canada has more than tripled, growing more rapidly than American trade with the rest of the world. Mexico and Canada are now the second and third largest exporters to the United States, after China. And the two countries are the leading importers of American products.”

Trump has criticized NAFTA and wants to renegotiate it while threatening to end the agreement if he doesn’t get what he wants. But pulling out of the accord could have unintended economic consequences. Over the past 25 years, NAFTA has remodeled the United States economy, and its demise would have high costs for American companies and consumers.

The NAFTA agreement allows any of the three countries involved to withdraw six months after notifying the other parties. Congress could oppose a White House decision to withdraw, arguing that the Constitution gives Congress power to “regulate commerce with foreign nations.” Members of Congress could also threaten to stall Trump’s legislative efforts of future legislation. But there is no language in NAFTA’s authorizing law passed by Congress that requires Congressional approval before leaving the accord.

Under NAFTA, the three countries pay nothing on most goods that cross their borders. However, if the United States exits the pact, the tariffs, or taxes, that Canada and Mexico put on its goods would rise. Moreover, the three countries are members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), so tariffs could revert to those levels.

Tariffs on agricultural exports to Mexico are particularly costly, including a 15 percent tariff on wheat, a 25 percent on beef and a 75 percent tariff on chicken and potatoes. But goods like soap, fireworks, handbags and many articles of clothing face tariffs of 15 to 20 percent. Mexican goods would, in turn, face an average United States tariff of 3.5 percent.

Trade experts are debating whether Canada and the United States would revert to a pre-existing free-trade agreement between the two countries that was superseded by NAFTA. If not, United States exporters would face an average WTO tariff in Canada of 4.2 percent, again with much higher rates on some goods, including 27 percent for beef and 18 percent for most apparel.

But the vast majority of the economic damage would be to companies that have spent decades building up complex supply chains along North America’s borders to take advantage of differing costs and resources. American automakers rely heavily on parts imported from overseas but agriculture, energy, retail and other industries can also be affected. These trading relationships help keep the price of the final product competitive with other major global manufacturing centers in Asia and Europe.

The automotive sector in the three countries is tightly linked, exporting and importing billions of dollars of assembly parts. Last year alone the United States imported 1.6 million vehicles assembled in Mexico however, about 40 percent of the value of the components in those vehicles came from the United States.

American textile makers shipped more than $11 billion in goods to Canada and Mexico last year, according to the National Council of Textile Organizations. The tariffs that the three countries have under the WTO are high, around 18 to 20 percent.

NAFTA opened major markets to United States farmers like corn which is now sold in Mexico, a market that they had previously been excluded from. Mexican avocados, tomatoes and other fresh fruits and vegetables are now commonly found in United States groceries, especially during the winter growing season.

For medical devices and supplies, Mexico is a leading provider, and some major American manufacturers have opened factories in Mexico in recent years to expand this market.

At the end of the day, higher tariffs would push prices up on a range of goods. Prices would also surge on Mexican fruits and vegetables sold in United States grocery stores.

The White House argues that a better trade deal would support companies making goods in America, thus creating more American jobs. That would likely be true in some cases. But companies might decide its cheaper to relocate their manufacturing out of North America entirely and then pay the United States tariff instead which is only 2.5 percent, so if NAFTA falls apart it may be more cost-effective for companies to make cars in Asia.

A withdrawal from NAFTA could set the stage for a new trade pact with the three countries, perhaps as Trump wishes bilateral trade deals with Mexico and an updated agreement with Canada where Trump can use economic bullying in order to get his way. But following a contentious collapse of the agreement, Canada and Mexico may not be in any mood to negotiate with the whims of Trump.

Mexico and Canada could remain members of NAFTA and continue trading on its terms backfiring on Trump’s efforts to muscle his way into a new agreement. In the meantime, the European Union has signed free trade agreements with both Mexico and Canada that could result in European companies having an edge over American competitors in those markets.

If the United States decides to pull out of NAFTA, the most likely scenario is that Canada and Mexico would move ahead with trade agreements with other countries as both are still in discussions to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Trump withdrew the United States from (TPP) on his fourth day in office. That deal would give Canada and Mexico tariff-free access to several lucrative markets, including Japan.

What was the best form of trade during medieval warfare?

The most legendary of these trade routes was the Silk Road. However, the Silk Road is not a product of the Middle Ages; for its roots go back thousands of years to ancient China and Central Asia. During the Middle Ages, the Silk Road was revived after a few hundred years of inactivity mainly due to to the Islamic Caliphates, who ruled over large swaths of Central Asia and the Middle East. But the renewal of this ancient route was provoked by the most fear hordes of Mongols lead by Genghis Khan who destroy Central Asian states along his path and continue his drive into the Middle East and Europe. His trail of destruction ended the Caliphates and their dominance and reopened the Silk Route for Eastern goods which were popular among the courts of Europe but had no relevance for the Mongolian nomadic lifestyle that had little use for material goods.

As Mongol control of Central Asia declined in the mid-14th century it also caused the Silk Route to decline again as the political fragmentation made trade along the route very dangerous and costly for the 4,000-mile long journey. The rebirth of an Islamic state in the Middle East as the Ottoman Empire signaled the end of major trading along the Silk Road for the period.

In recent time the Chinese have completed rail tracks for a luxurious 21 day rail trip between Beijing and Moscow through Central Asia reviving once again this hardy road. The Silk Road is also known as the Silk Route, which is not a single road, but a network of historical trade routes across Asia from China to Europe. Also, it follows the footsteps of such legendary figures as Alexander the Great and Marco Polo as it winds across 5 countries through areas only accessible by train.

Indian Ocean Trade

As important as the Silk Road was, it did not represent the only means for trade in the Middle Ages and for vast distances in Southern Asia, the traders and merchants of the Middle Ages looked to the sea for their needs. Indian Ocean trade was one of the most dynamic trading routes of the Middle Ages, bridging the city-states of East Africa in the west to the seaboards of the Middle East, India, China, and Southeast Asia.

The Indian Ocean trade depended heavily on the sailing winds of the monsoons in the Indian Ocean, that changed directions seasonally. This allowed merchants and traders to sail in one direction during the spring and summer months and return home during the fall and winter months. The dependability of these winds encouraged an enormous amount of trade, with everything from slaves to timber to spices being traded east and west. Sailing trade winds in the Mediterranean were also extensible use and known as the Sirocco which is a hot and humid southeast to southwest winds originating in the hot, dry desert-air over Northern Africa and flowing northward into the southern Mediterranean basin. In opposite direction flows the Mistral which is a strong, cold, northwesterly wind that blows from southern France into the Gulf of Lion in the northern Mediterranean, with sustained winds often exceeding 66 km/h (41 mph), sometimes reaching 185 km/h (115 mph). These winds were also reliable with the seasons and could be use by sailors to steer their boats from one side of the Mediterranean to the other.

Other major influence in the Middle ages were church-sponsored wars which brought some benefit to Medieval Europe. For instance, the crusades allowed westerners to take advantage of the richer East for the first time since the days of ancient Rome. It also served as an outlet for Europe's youth and aggression as population exploded during the height of the Middle Ages (1050-1300 CE). Sending young men off to fight in a holy cause temporarily quiet down the internal wars that had afflicted the West since the collapse of the Roman Empire.

The crusaders tasted conquest and ignited in them a curiosity about adventure beyond Europe, which, in turn, helped to lay the foundation for the colonial period that followed. Columbus' expeditions three centuries later, mark the real onset of Western expansionism, arguably the single most significant development of the last millennium for conquest, colonialism and trade.

The revival of material culture came long before the so-called “European Renaissance." Farming techniques that reduced labor and increased yields became increasingly required and saw an adoption of changes in the period between 500 and 1200 that revolutionized agrarian production. While fertile Northern European soils could be brought under production for the first time. The range of processes and techniques driven by these new machines include sawing masonry, driving trip hammers, automated forge bellows, and other methods of production and enhancement of trade.

The resultant rise in production and standards of living from these technologies, combined with the end of the wars of invasion and promotion of greater political stability, facilitated an upswing in the later Middle Ages.

Will import and export services be popularized? Can small businesses easily purchase goods made in foreign factories?

https://www.buyerparty.com/

Alfonso Llanes, Master Degree in International Development

Answered just now

Many industrialized countries around the world have almost entirely stopped producing some goods because of foreign competitive efficiency. This means that firms in other countries are able to produce these same goods faster, more cheaply, and of possibly better quality. This is the case with many types of clothing because clothes can be manufactured at lower cost in developing countries because they have low cost of labor. However, this practice is a source of much controversy and is currently being discussed in international forums.

The facts are that only a handful of goods or services a large country with abundant resources absolutely must import from other countries. Yet no country today, including the United States, can be totally self-sufficient without suffering a high cost. All countries need to—or choose to—import at least some goods and services for the following reasons:

• Goods or services that are either essential to the functioning of the economy or are attractive to consumers but are not available in the domestic market.
• Goods or services that satisfy domestic needs or wants can be produced at a lower cost or more efficiently by other countries, and therefore, can be sold at lower prices.

Multi-lateral trade agreements, trade blocs, customs unions and other forms of international trade cooperation. This in conjunction with lower cost and more efficient methods of transportation; it is now possible to have availability of products in domestic markets from faraway lands and/or marginal markets.

The capitalist system depends for its survival in constant expansion or growth of either domestic or international markets so that, when a producer becomes inefficient or has a higher cost of production it is rapidly replaced in the market with better methods of production. As markets expand on a global scale the supply chain becomes more dependent on supply and demand transportation networks for on time delivery of either accessory parts for assembly in another location or finish goods for wholesale and distribution.

Transnationals are now consolidating with other transnationals that can produce assembly parts more efficiently and at lower cost domestically for foreign assembly and sale of the finish products in all the participating markets. Perhaps an unintended consequence of this trend has been the creation of global vested interest that need to preserve peace in the world in order to maintain and grow their profits as a result of globalization.

Should we see the recent quick recovery (after a ~30% drop of many crypto’s) as proof of resilience of crypto currencies?

Alfonso Llanes, studied at Florida International University

Answered just now

Resilience might be too strong of a word to describe a subject which depends on a highly volatile and speculative market existing in cyberspace unlike coin based markets that support trade and commercial transactions.

Crypto currencies view from the Winklevoss Blended Bitcoin Index

“The Winklevoss Blended Bitcoin Index (WBBI)1 is used to collar the 4pm Eastern Time Gemini BTCUSD auction (Gemini Auction). The Gemini Auction is the settlement pricing mechanism used for the Bitcoin Futures Contracts (XBT), which trade on the Cboe Futures Exchange, LLC (CFE) under the ticker symbol “XBT” contract specifications. XBT futures are cash-settled contracts based on Gemini’s Auction price for bitcoin, denominated in U.S. dollars (symbol: BTCUSD).”

The Chinese Weight In

China cracked down on so-called “Initial Coin Offerings,” and there has been rumbling rumors that the Communist government is going to ban trading crypto-currency altogether. In response, the most prominent exchange, BTCChina, said it will end trading.

The question becomes then how to choose a narrative that explains bitcoin’s long-term place in the world: Should it be taken as a new monetary forte—or, in in the words of Jamie Dimon’s view, a modern-day “It's 'a fraud?” Or the view, sponsored by columnist Mohamed A. El-Erian, that” bitcoin and other crypto-assets are now a permanent part of the investment landscape and will have a role alongside precious metals as long-term sources of value?” It seems that either outcome could be possible—but so does a future collapse.

San Francisco-based Coin-base, GDAX exchange, which is a trading platform backed by the New York Stock Exchange, and venture capitalists recently a announced the launch of margin trading a Global Digital Asset Exchange (GDAX). However the SEC dealt a blow to the digital currency industry when it refused to approve a new Exchange Traded Funds (ETF), which would have let in bitcoin be traded like any other fund. The SEC in the meantime is reconsidering the decision however, the only stock-like alternative is the Bitcoin Investment Trust. This is a trust that holds bitcoin that lets people trade its shares under the ticker GBTC.

The volatility of crypto coins is mainly due to speculation boiling from margin purchases and short sales which follows the same route as selling a stock short:

• Borrow on a margin account to buy a stock to bet against.
• Immediately sell the shares of the stock
• Wait for the stock to fall in price and then buy the shares back at the new, lower price.
• Next, return the margin borrowed to the brokerage and pocket the difference.

The major risk of doing this is that the stock might actually increase in value, resulting in a loss. The price appreciation of a stock is theoretically unlimited and, therefore, there is no limit to the loss posed by a short position. Additionally, the uptick rule is another restriction to short selling. This rule is designed to stop short selling from further driving down the price of a stock that has dropped more than 10% in one trading day.

In conclusion the Jury is still out on the future acceptance of crypto currencies as a replacement of coin-based currencies for trade, commerce, banking and financial services.